Broken
by Sandfire Kat
Summary: A single misstep can cause a million problems. On Halloween night, the story is drastically changed as Daniel finds himself alone. His savoir is nowhere to be seen, and he is forced to face the Cobra Kais all by himself. But one against five is too much to ask of anyone. And as the Cobras face against him, they might just go too far...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: What if Miyagi didn't make it…?

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

The late October night outside was quiet and serene. The only noises that managed to puncture through the silence of the evening were those of late-night crickets or wide-awake frogs. Their rumbles and squeaks created an almost soothing cadence as it traveled through the air, and yet it couldn't soothe all worries. The night may seem peaceful at the moment, but he knew better. A tense feeling lingered behind the façade of peace, hinted at by the fog that was slowly melting its way across the ground. Though it was not uncommon for there to be a hint of mist during October in California, he couldn't help but wonder whether or not it stood for something. Such as possible danger, or a threat of something to come.

The Jack-O-Lanterns that he had made hours ago were perched neatly on top of one of his now-empty work tables, their candlelight flickering rapidly across the room, and casting odd shadows along the walls. Though the room he resided in for now was small, it did well to keep out most of the cool winds that were blowing the trees to and fro outside. But as the moon rode higher and higher into the sky, the room's temperature started to drop into a much colder temperature. He should have made for home a long time ago; his working hours were never this long on a normal night. Especially on a holiday such as Halloween. But he refused to leave just yet; the anxiousness that filled him would not permit him to do so.

Every so often, the man would pass by his door, opening it with a small creak to look around outside, eyes a little weary as he scanned the area. He searched for anything that would signal a return. A bike parked neatly out towards the front of the building, the costume he had made at the last moment folded up at his doorstep, or even the scrawny figure he was watching out for heading home itself. Though he tried to search for any of the signs, he always came up short. It did little to ease his worrying, but it did little to provoke it, at least. He knew that he was getting worried over nothing; the thought had passed through his head more than twenty times that night alone. But still, his frayed nerves got the best of him, and he found himself waiting. Waiting for a knock on the door, the sound of bike wheels against the ground, or a voice to call out a greeting to him.

Milling around his workspace, the man tried to busy himself with tasks other than listening out for a return. He had cleaned the already-kept room, he had started a new bonsai tree that he had acquired, he had opened up a window, he had looked over the tasks written out for him tomorrow, and he had gone back and closed the window again. The night was oddly cool for a California evening, even if it was during October. He was in the middle of seeing whether or not he could spruce up the Jack-O-Lanterns, when suddenly, there was a series of sharp raps on his door. The man straightened at once, snapping out of his thoughts as he turned to look curiously over in the direction the noises had come from.

Drawing himself up, he abandoned the prospect of fiddling with the pumpkins, going over and answering the door with slightly narrowed eyes. For a moment, he briefly wondered whether or not it was the person he was waiting for. But as he swung open the door, he was only met with a rather sour-looking face, telling him at once that it wasn't to be. Mrs. Milo stood outside neatly, hands clasped tightly in front of her as she straightened with a satisfied look on her face. "Oh, good." She said briskly. "You're still here." Not giving him a moment to say anything at all, she launched right into her complaint. "I've been re-painting my bedroom in the apartment, and I just spilled the entire can on my carpet floor. You simply _must _come and see if you can take it out before it gets too far into the fabric, Mister Miyagi." Her face scrunched up with distaste. "Otherwise there will be a nasty-colored stain right in the middle of the spare bedroom, and I _cannot_ have that."

Mr. Miyagi eyed her a little dubiously. "Why you open can in first place?" He asked her.

But Mrs. Milo only bristled at the question. "I was trying to get a head-start on the project." She snapped irritably. "My grandson was planning a visit down here sometime soon, and I wanted the room looking fresh and new for him." She paused for a moment, looking at the older man a little reproachfully. "So will you come up to fix the stain? I don't want it to get any worse than it is already." Mrs. Milo was usually negative, so she didn't faze Miyagi with her sharp words and angered tone. And he wasn't doing much else besides trying to fill time. He might as well help her out before she got any more temperamental.

He took one last quick glance behind the woman, once again coming up with nothing. _Is no matter. _He thought swiftly, already turning around to fetch the tub of rubbing alcohol he had in the back. _If nothing happen yet, nothing happen later. _Managing to find the bucket rather easily, Miyagi retraced his steps back to where Mrs. Milo was waiting rather impatiently. She perked at once as she saw what he held in his hands, eyes widening considerably with confusion as she opened her mouth to ask. But Miyagi beat her to it, stepping outside and shutting the door behind him softly. "Alcohol is best way to get paint off carpet." He explained easily. "Paint thinner only spread mess around, making stain worse. This way much easier."

Mrs. Milo eyed him a little oddly, but did not object. After all, what did she know about removing paint spills? That was what the purpose of having a handyman was in the first place. "Now, then." Miyagi said bracingly. "How big was spill?" Mrs. Milo turned beet red as she launched into her explanation of how the paint stain came to be. As she elaborated, she started back to her apartment, retracing her steps as she turned around. Mr. Miyagi trailed behind her without another word, listening silently as he followed behind the woman.

They turned the corner and left his workshop rather quickly, Mr. Miyagi not even looking back as he readjusted his grip on the heavy tub of medicine. Pretty soon, there was nothing left but the lights that hung overhead on the side of the apartment complex, flickering unsteadily just like the candles had inside the Jack-O-Lanterns.

And the fog around them slowly got thicker.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

Fear. Pure fear and hot rushes of adrenaline were the only two things that kept him ahead of the others. Anger and embarrassment might be enough to send you racing, but fright was an all-around different feeling. It burned through every inch of your body, stinging and encasing you with a tremor that only helped your legs to move faster. Daniel was running so fast that he almost expected to trip over himself, to take a misstep and skid a good mile across the grass. Breath coming in rapid, sharp gasps, the boy pushed himself harder and harder, hearing his pursuers starting to gain on him. But as he rounded the corner, his eyes widened with a new flash of desperation. Looming high over him was a tall wire fence, the moonlight catching the metal of it and throwing back a gleam into his eyes. Wincing, Daniel threw a quick look behind him, hyperventilating as he saw the group of bullies a little more than three yards away from him. He had no time or room to try and change direction, or to find a way around the fence. He'd just have to go over it.

Starting to near the metal barricade, the boy's eyes narrowed, determination kindling itself in his stomach as he threw himself forward as hard as he could. Jumping up, the boy locked his fingers tightly into the wire mesh, giving a small grimace as he hoisted himself up as quick as he could. Locking his hands around the bar holding it together, he pulled his body up, swinging his leg over the top of the fence and propelling himself forward. Trying to balance himself as best he could manage, Daniel's eyes caught those of the Cobras, who were racing behind him. They were yelling and shouting insults in his direction, eyes narrowed with anger and fury as they, too, started to near the barrier that was now separating them. They were closer than he had first thought.

Daniel gasped sharply, the surprise causing him to lose his grip, the boy sliding off of his already-wobbly perch to make a clumsy landing on the ground. The impact knocked the wind out of him with a clean whooshing noise, but he wasn't going to stop. Forcing his body back into motion, he shot back up to his feet, hearing the others starting to scale the fence as he took off running for the second time that night. Breath coming in strained wheezes, Daniel struggled to keep up his sprint as he stumbled down the hill. But his body was starting to get tired, legs going noticeably slower than they had been a few minutes ago. His arms were numb from his hasty climb, and his legs felt like some kind of weird Jell-O that his mom used to make back in New York.

_What, are you serious!? _He yelled at himself mentally. _Don't give up now! What are you, stupid!? _Between the sharp gasps of air that he tried to take in, Daniel could see his apartment building on the other end of the path that cut through the grass. He could make it. He would make it. He had to make it. Unless he wanted to be killed, his only chance was getting inside the complex before any of the others did, or before they could stop him. He didn't know what he would do once he got inside, but he was sure that it would offer some kind of protection. Though the thought of running to his mother in this situation made him seem like some kind of wimp…being a wimp was better than being beaten.

But he must have landed on his foot in a wrong way. As he made the desperate run across the last stretch of grass, he found himself moving a little awkwardly. His right foot gave a twinge of discomfort when he put it on the ground, the boy reduced to running in a hopping sort of fashion as he pushed off the ground harder with his left. The new tactic left him slower, though. Daniel gritted his teeth together tightly as he heard the Cobras nearly right behind him. He was almost to his building, the lights that hung on the side of the building shone a cold white gleam onto him as it chased away a little bit of the fog that clung close to the ground. If he could only just get over the back fence without too much trouble…

But that hope proved to be a little too demanding, it seemed. Nearing the fence, the dark-haired teen could hear the others just a few footsteps behind him, yelling insults and barbs in his direction as they tried to reach out and catch him from behind. Starting to feel the first few lashes of panic across his skin, Daniel wondered frantically whether or not he had hopes of outracing them by now. Taking the risk and deciding that it was much too late to try and swerve into a new direction, or to go around the fence, Daniel once again threw his weight forward as hard as he could.

Latching onto the webbed metal in front of him, Daniel let out an exhausted grunt as he attempted to scramble over to the other side as fast as he could. Forcing his leg over the top, Daniel latched it tightly on the other side, grimacing deeply as he tried to find enough strength to get himself over. But suddenly, hands locked around his back, grabbing tightly to his shirt as a heavy weight suddenly started to drag him down. Cheers came from the others as Daniel felt himself starting to slip backwards, Johnny's voice meeting his ears as the boy jeered up at him. "You ain't going anywhere!" He snapped, the blonde tightening his hold on Daniel and trying to pull the boy down. Behind them, the others were nearing as well. He didn't have a lot of time.

Grunting, Daniel tightened his hold on the fence, face pained as he tried to swing his leg back over to where he had to go. But the tugging around his midsection refused to stop, his leg scraping back painfully as his efforts proved futile. He felt himself falling, Johnny starting to win their tug-of-war as the metal of the fence started to scrape itself deep into the boy's palms. One last time, he tried to wrap himself onto the only thing that could possibly save him, but once again, he was foiled. He felt another pair of hands grab onto his shirt, and before he knew it, he was trying to catch himself before he could fall down to the ground. Ripped away from his anchor, Daniel stumbled backwards, feet hitting the ground with a sharp thud, causing a tremor of shock to lance up his spine.

He felt hands ram against his side, pushing him forward and right into the arms of another Cobra. His eyes hardened at the prospect of being tossed around; did they really think they could get off so easily? He might not have been able to get to his apartment before they caught him, but he could stall long enough for somebody to catch sight of what was happening…right? It wouldn't take that long, someone in the complex would be able to hear the scuffle and immediately go check outside. But he had to put up a good enough fight if he was going to have any kind of hope for that.

Eyes flashing with a renewed sense of determination, Daniel side-stepped a little, changing his stance mid-push and charging at the waiting attacker. His hands balled into tight fists, his nails digging into his already-bruised palms as he made a move to rush the person waiting for him. Since all of the Cobras were wearing the same kind of thing with the same kind of make-up, the only person he could define really, was Johnny, who was the only one with his hair showing through the Skelton masks. They all looked the same to him, other than that. Angry skeletons, jeering and lashing out at him, waiting for their own chance to land a blow on the boy. It was like he was surrounded by the same person.

Nevertheless, Daniel did his best. He scrapped up enough strength for him to make a good enough blow, feet throwing up dirt and lose blades of grass as he got nearer. But the Cobra wasn't even fazed by the change in the boy's mood, only leaning forward quickly and clapping his hands tightly on either of the boy's shoulders. Cold, malicious eyes bored into his own, the teen spitting in Daniel's face mercilessly. "Wimp!" He sneered, an ugly smirk gracing his features at the sight of the boy still trying to put up a fight. Daniel staggered backwards, eyes somewhat lost as he tried to think up some cocky comeback to the insult. But right as he was about to open his mouth, he was yanked down harshly, a hard impact ramming into the center of the teen's stomach as he got kneed. Like a brick being thrown into him, Daniel let out a muffled groan as the breath was knocked right out of him.

Before he could try and recover, he was pushed back once more. He tried to catch himself before he could fall over, but his head was sent reeling from the heavy blow. His vision danced back and forth, spinning like a top as he tried to find his coordination. He gasped for air that wouldn't fill his lungs, resembling a fish out of water as he felt hands grab him once again, holding him up against his will as the brunette's knees buckled underneath him, dangling uselessly. Through his wavering vision, Daniel could make out the blonde hair of Johnny, recognizing the deathly grip against his chest as he tried to fight for air.

"You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you, little twerp?" Johnny demanded, only furthering Daniel's confusion as he shook the kid back and forth angrily. The boy's vision bounced around, back and forth as he struggled to suck in oxygen. He tried to make a retort to the words, but all that managed to come out was a guttural rumble of pain that was snatched from the back of his throat. "No." Johnny snarled angrily, throwing the child back and forth as Daniel desperately tried to regain his footing. "You had to push it." He growled, tightening his fists in the boy's shirt. "And now you're gonna pay."

Daniel's forehead creased at this in a desperate look of pain, the boy letting out another groan as he tried to find words to get them all away. He had to be able to do something! Words went through his head. Things like: _Stop! _or _Let's talk this out! _or maybe even _You're right! You're right, okay! Now let me go! _If he agreed with them, would it make them less angry? The possible, though too hopeful, solutions flashed in the back of his mind, plans as thinly-made as sand constructing themselves in his disgruntled mind. But he couldn't voice any of the thoughts, his throat closing and opening in an erratic sense of panic as he lost the power to speak. He tried to twist away, finally able to breathe, albeit weakly. He gasped in frantic pants of air, in hopes of calming his spinning thoughts and pounding head. The air scraped down his windpipe almost painfully as he breathed in, but he didn't pay any heed to it, thankful to feel his chest moving up and down.

Johnny seemed to realize this, eyes narrowing into furious slits as he leaned backwards. His arm cocked into a sharp right angle, the boy tensing himself and immediately going into a perfect form of a karate position. His right hand curled into a tough fist, and he let out an angered cry, launching his weapon forward and making direct contact with the boy's abdomen. It was obvious that his stomach was targeted as a weak point, Daniel immediately reverting back to his posture before as he doubled over. He let out a sharp cry, closing his eyes tightly, reaching up and trying to hold himself together. Johnny backed up with a furious look, lips pursed tightly as he looked the injured boy over critically. It was obvious that he was far from satisfied. As if getting the message, two of his sidekicks swooped forward, grabbing Daniel and tossing him in between themselves for a moment as they cackled with amusement.

The paranoid part of Daniel's mind, the part that he always did his best to smother, was yelling at him sharply, giving him instructions to follow according to plan. _Get up! _It pleaded desperately. _Get yourself out of here! Just start running! Don't look back! You can make it! Or…or agree with them! Get them off your case! You're losing this fight! You have no chance of winning! Stop this before it gets any worse! _But the other side of his mind, the prouder and more stubborn half, snapped right on back at the other. _Are you kidding? _It demanded harshly. _These guys are just jerks! You totally stand a chance! Don't back up now! What about Ali? What'll she do when she hears about you wussing out of this? You have to stand up fight! Otherwise you'll get nowhere! _

He'd been so wrapped in his thoughts, Daniel wasn't even aware of the hands that grabbed him, hoisting him up and holding him still. He wasn't aware of it, until a lash of burning hot pain struck across his cheek. He twisted backwards, letting out another harsh yelp as his hand flew up to press against the already-bruising side of his face. His cheek throbbed loudly, and a few feet away from him, he could hear a voice calling out happily. "Nice front-kick, Johnny!" Front-kick…? His legs were wobbly underneath him now, shaking just as much as his eyesight was. Turning around with a look of pure agony on his face, Daniel made a move to raise his fists in defiance, still attempting to stall as best he could. How long would it take for someone to notice him being _killed _over here?

He felt his feet slipping and sliding across the ground, as though it were covered with ice. Finding himself to wrapped up in pain to stand, Daniel started to fall, the boy grimacing deeper as he pictured himself slamming into the ground. But a Cobra caught him at the last moment, grabbing his shoulder and yanking him upwards sharply, only for the boy to earn another kick, delivered in weak point. Not giving him another chance to catch himself, Johnny twisted around in a tight circle, kicking out and catching Daniel's same cheek. The force was stronger with this one, the boy flying backwards and slamming into the fence behind them with a painful smack. His fingers dug deep into the web, trying to transport his pain anywhere else but himself.

He let out a thick sob as his hands suddenly grew numb, the boy's eyes rolling back into his head as his hold on the fence slipped. Drooping to the side, the boy crumpled, prostrate as he hit the ground. His mind grew fuzzy as his head lolled backwards, unable to hold itself upright by now. Pain wracked through every inch of him, and as it mingled with the boy's exhaustion, Daniel knew for a fact that the hope of winning this fight was dwindling quickly. If the chance of him doing so was even there in the first place. Darkness clouded the edges of his vision, hovering over him like a vulture that was planning to attack.

"Get him up." Johnny order venomously. He still wasn't finished with him.

Daniel immediately tried to move, panic shooting up from his injured stomach and clogging his throat tightly. He had to move. He had to…do something. His thoughts were sluggish now as he tried to think through things, mind refusing to work as it started to slip away little by little. He found himself unable to take in air, but for an entirely different reason this time. He couldn't make himself move. He started to lapse into a frantic haze, unable to do anything but scream for help mentally, calling out to nobody and everybody at the same time.

But surprisingly, a voice spoke up, a little softly. "Man…leave him alone, man." It said a little hesitantly. "He's had enough."

For a moment, Daniel was stupid enough to start wondering whether or not he might be let off. But then someone grabbed him up once more, heaving his limp body into space as he hung listlessly from the grip. He gaped largely, hoping for air to leak through his throat and into his lungs. He couldn't move his chest, he couldn't breathe for himself. "Shut up, Bobby!" His holder screamed into his ear, Daniel's body going into a spasm at the sudden volume. A hand went under Daniel's arm, propping him up and better holding up the boy's head at a better angle. Whoever was holding him, they wanted his face showing. Which could only mean more kicks. The thought sent Daniel's stomach dropping, and he weakly trying to twist away from the grip. But with the amount of force he had left, he barely moved. His body was one huge weight, a million tons and immobile in its stature.

"Look at him, Dutch!" Bobby yelled furiously. "He can't even stand up!"

"So what?!" A voice screamed from behind.

"That don't mean squat!" Dutch spat, jerking Daniel painfully as the boy let out another gasp.

"Johnny!" Bobby growled, pacing backwards to stand in front of the blonde. "Leave him alone, man! He's had enough!"

But Johnny only scraped past him rudely, shoving him backwards he paced closer to Daniel. "I'll decide when he has enough, man!" He shouted, voice riddled with fury.

Bobby called after him, fuming. "What is wrong with you, Johnny!?"

The blonde didn't reply outright, merely stalking forward until he was a foot away from Daniel. His eyes flashed with unbridled anger, and his hands clenched at his sides. The next phrase came robotically, as if the teen were reciting lines from a script. "An enemy deserves no mercy!" He shouted, choruses of agreement rising up behind him at the statement. Taking the shouts as assents, Johnny paced backwards for a moment, building up strength. Daniel caught the movement, screwing his eyes shut as he desperately tried to get free of Dutch's grip. But it was much too late. Letting out a sharp cry of attack, Johnny dashed forward, dealing a deadly kick as he swung his foot up to Daniel at a million miles an hour.

As soon as the kick landed on the side of Daniel's head, the force knocked him clear out of Dutch's embrace. The boy flew to the left, the side of his head already starting to leak with scarlet blood from the dastardly blow. Letting out a small scream, the only thing that could escape his throat at the moment, Daniel tried to grab for the fence once more, in a frantic attempt to stop himself from falling. But in his twisting around, he got too close. The kick had propelled him backwards farther than he realized, his forehead slamming against the large metal pole with a sickening crunching noise. Bobby's eyes widened with certain horror as the noise met his ears, mouth hanging open wide as he watched Daniel crumple against the grass for the second time. But this time, he didn't move.

Both the side of the boy's head, and his forehead were now gushing blood. But that wasn't the most frightening thing. The scariest part of it all was the fact that Daniel couldn't feel any of it. His whole body was numb and lax as he watched his own blood stain the ground around him, the boy unable to move and try to stop himself from losing too much of the liquid. He expected white-hot pain to rip him apart, but he only felt tired. And that's when he knew he was in _deep_ trouble. That's when he knew that things were going very wrong.

Footsteps thundered closer to him, and a hand flew down to yank him to the side, making it so that he was on his back instead of his side. Eyes fighting to stay open, Daniel looked up groggily to see Johnny leaning over him, eyes narrowed and brooding as he looked down at his victim coldly. Daniel's lips moved unconsciously, a raspy sort of noise coming out of his throat as his half-awake mind worked against him. "…please…" He choked thickly, hairline slowly dying itself a dark pink color. "…stop…" He mumbled, fighting to keep his eyelids up.

"Johnny, you're really pushing it!" Bobby snapped, taking a few steps forward.

But the blonde only whirled back around on him, eyes flaring with brown fire. "I'm not the one who's been pushing it!" He yelled, voice scraping against his throat from all the shouting. He jabbed a finger down at Daniel, who was slowly becoming more and more unresponsive as he lay limp on the ground. "This punk started it! He should have known to stay away! He deserves _everything _that's happening to him, and more! So don't you go saying that I'm the one pushing it!" He turned swiftly, having a hard time breathing around the pure anger that was engulfing him.

But then, his expression cleared suddenly, the taller senior leaning down slowly until he was nearly eye-level with Daniel. His eyes bored into the limp form, searing Daniel's skin at the mere stare. "You know that you crossed the line, didn't you?" He asked, voice dangerously gentle in its wake. The last part of Daniel's brain that was working, his paranoid self, began yelling at him once more, albeit fuzzier. _Agree, agree, agree! _It begged sorrowfully, all the agony and hurt in its voice that Daniel was having to endure. Slowly, Daniel managed to follow the advice, head twitching up and down like a rag doll's. The movement caused more blood to gush out of his skull, and the boy found himself gagging at the sensation, and the stench that came along with it.

"Good." Johnny said firmly, pushing himself up to stand once more. Struggling under the effort to breathe by now, Daniel felt himself relax as he tried to focus on the task of moving his chest up and down. So he was entirely unprepared for the blow to his abdomen as Johnny dueled out yet another heavy kick. Eyes bulging with shock at the sudden strike, Daniel's body convulsed as he felt a sick taste rise up into the back of his throat. But Johnny repeated the action, again and again, unflinching in the blows as he rained them down on the smaller child. "This is for every _thought_, every _look_, every _word_, and _every single thing you did to take her away_!" Each emphasized word earned the weaker one another kick to the stomach, and by the time Johnny was over and done, Daniel was far too over the edge to even try to cooperate with anything. He let out noises in between sobs and gags, struggling for purchase as his hands scrabbled wildly around his chest, which was aching and screaming with pain by now.

The other Cobras had backed away now, hesitant to do any more as they looked on silently. Only Bobby was willing to speak up, voice high and panicked as he yelled: "Johnny! Stop! H-He's going to call the cops after this! We've crossed the line!"

Johnny perked slightly, looking over with a surprised look, as if the thought never occurred to him. But then he steeled himself, brushing off the feeling as he leaned back down. Grabbing a section of Daniel's shirt that wasn't stained with blood, he spoke to the others while glaring down sharply at the near-unconscious victim. "He's not gonna call the cops." He assured them, pausing a moment before muttering lowly, the words obviously meant for Daniel. "You won't call the cops, will you, twerp?"

Daniel couldn't do anything anymore, body shutting down on itself as his struggles got weaker and weaker. Johnny snarled in his throat, leaning down low and tightening his hold on the kid. "You'd better not." He spat, jerking the boy sharply at his words and watching as his eyelids fluttered open weakly at the movement. "Because if you do, it'll be ten times worse than this. If you tell anybody what happened…we'll make sure that you regret it." He didn't reply to the threat, head falling limply to the side. Disgusted, Johnny let go of the boy quickly, wiping the red stains from his hand on the grass with a roll of his eyes.

He turned around, meeting the eyes of his friends firmly. They all looked at him with stunned expressions, as if unsure of what to do now. It was obvious that they hadn't anticipating an ending like this to their Halloween night. But when Johnny spoke up, he didn't sound worried at all. "He won't tell anybody." He growled, turning and glaring down at the bloody boy furiously. "He's smarter than that." When nobody replied, he sighed, turning and walking away briskly. "C'mon, let's go." He threw over his shoulder. "He's not worth our time anymore."

One by one, after throwing a look over at Daniel's broken form, they followed Johnny. Like dogs, they trotted after the person who told them what to do, not questioning his motives as they let him take leadership. Bobby was about to follow, but he hesitated after a moment, wincing a little as he turned and let his gaze rest on the still body of the kid that had been brutally beaten right in front of his eyes. He made a move to go over to him…could he help him somehow? But then he drew back quickly, banishing the thought. He was a Cobra Kai member, he had to stick with his friends. Besides, he'd be fine. He'd gotten up from fights before, he'd get up from this one. After all, what made this time any different?

Reluctantly, Bobby turned back to his friends, who were already making their way back to the school. Maybe they could catch the rest of the party before it ended. Steeling himself, Bobby broke into a jog, trying to catch up to his friends as quickly as he could. He left behind as much of his worries as he could shake, scolding himself mentally for even worrying about it. Johnny knew what he was doing. He might rough up Daniel now and then, but he would never inflict so much danger as to kill him. He knew that much, at least. So he followed after his group, thoughts and doubts being pushed into the back of his mind as best they could as he ran away from the complex.

And he didn't look back once.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

A/N: Alright. So this was a gift for my friend. ((Gift for my friend, dare from my friend, same difference.)) Yup, she bet me I couldn't make a fanfiction out of the next movie I heard about, which was the Karate Kid. So…you know…YOLO, right? LOLOLOL I'm sorry.

So, EXPLINATION TIME: Originally, this was made just to prove a point to my friend, but I realized that I could actually go pretty far with this story, if I really wanted to. I actually had WAY more than this down in the first place, but I cut it in half because I felt like it was way too long for one chapter. Like, it was up to almost twenty pages long. No.

I CAN update this story. I CAN make this more than a one-shot. I CAN make this an actually long story.

But I'm only going to do that if I get a lot of reviews and feedback for this chapter.

I don't wanna sound mean and demanding, but this genre of fanfiction isn't very popular. And unless I know a lot of people are reading this, there's no use updating it when I have other people reviewing my other fanfiction. So if you want me to update more, review, please! If you'd like me update, tell your friends, your family, your dogs, your cats, and give me a bunch of feedback! :D

((No flames, please. I tried my HARDEST to stay in coordination with the movie. I was looking up the script on Google, I was searching up scenes on Youtube, I was doing the whole shazam. So I hope you like it! ^^))


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow! Thanks for the reviews! A little more than I expected! So thank you! :D

From past experiences, I can say…that ambulances ((and crowds WATCHING them work)) appear like THAT. ((snaps)) I don't know if it's all the time, but when a kid got hit by a car at our school, the principal basically hung up the phone, and BAM. Ambulance. So….yup~

**Dat bold font means yelling, peepz **

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"Thank you again." Mrs. Milo said, walking beside Mr. Miyagi as she helped carry down the remains of his work. She carried the tub of rubbing alcohol, (which was almost gone, by now) and Mr. Miyagi toted along the dirty rags and towels used to scrub the paint away from the carpet. "That stain would have looked _disastrous _if I didn't get it out soon enough. My grandson is so picky, you know. If one thing isn't right for him, he gets so worked up. I can never tell where he gets it from." Mr. Miyagi smiled softly at the words, giving a small nod of agreement as he listened to the woman go on and on. She'd been talking ever since they left her apartment, not to mention all the while he cleaned the carpet. But it wasn't complaining, these thoughts. Sometimes it was better to listen, rather than talk.

"Oh, how much do I owe you?" She asked as the two rounded the corner of the complex. The green door of Miyagi's workspace was untouched, just as he had left it. No shower costume folded up neatly at the doorstep. No bike parked near it. Not paying too much attention to the lack of belongings, Miyagi started to reply, but he broke off as the woman cut through his words. "I should pay you more, this time, I suppose." She said briskly. "After all, it is Halloween. And it's far past your work hours." The words surprised the older man; Mrs. Milo wasn't usually one to be kind for no reason.

He shook his head, waving off her offers easily. "No, no." He said firmly, turning and starting to open his door, the thing letting out a slight creak as he moved it. "It was my pleasure. No need pay, quite alright. Think of it as…Halloween gift." He gave her a small wink at the notion, reaching out to take the bucket away from her so that he could put it back in its proper place before he left for home.

It was getting rather late; the moon was nearly all the way up in the sky by now. Even the frogs and the crickets had retired to sleep; the place around the pair was completely silent as they took their leave. But then, Miyagi realized that it wasn't just the frogs and crickets that had stopped making noise. It was like the whole world had gone quiet, the only sound being the rustling of leaves from the breeze that blew by every so often. That was strange. He perked at the unsettling thought, growing suddenly uneasy as his eyes narrowed.

"Oh, well, that's very kind of you." Mrs. Milo said, though it didn't sound as if her heart was really in to the compliment as her voice clipped. "Though I still think you should find…another job…that-" Her voice slowly became distracted, tapering off until she was doing nothing but mouthing silent words. Miyagi turned to look at her closely, her expression changing from sourness, to that of confusion, and maybe a little fright. But before he could try and figure out her abrupt change in manner, she cut him off with her own question. "What…is that?" She asked, tilting her head to the side as she squinted, trying to look through the fog better.

Miyagi followed her gaze, eyes landing on the thing that had caused Mrs. Milo's Through the slowly-thickening fog, a lithe silhouette was outlined against the mist, still and unmoving as it rested on the ground. "Is that…a person?" Mrs. Milo questioned, voice stunned as she took a small step backwards. She tightened her grip on the bucket she held in her arms, as if she were claiming the thing as a shield for herself in case she needed it. Miyagi turned, leaning down slowly and placing the towels that burdened his arms down on the ground silently. Mrs. Milo stiffened visibly as the older man started over to the bulge, right hand reaching out quickly, as if to stop him.

"Oh, don't-" The woman broke off, biting her lower lip anxiously as she watched the handyman go.

Tensing himself, Miyagi's eyes flashed back and forth, watching the scenery carefully, guard up and ready as he went forward. But as he got to the fence, he wasn't stopped by any kind of aggressors. Peering through the fog, Miyagi looked down at the form that was discarded on the ground. It was small and thin, looking undeniably weak in its crumpled stature. Blood traced gory lines across and around the body, and the startling amount of the red liquid was enough to send anybody reeling away. But Miyagi didn't even flinch at sight of it. The thought slammed into him a million miles an hour: he knew this person. Though the face, lax and unresponsive, was pressed into the ground, he could not mistake this figure. The dark hair was rapidly rusting over with blood, or the clothes that were slowly dying themselves a dark purple color. The pieces of the puzzle fit together perfectly inside his head, and he found himself staring with astonishment down at the person he had talked to only hours before. "Daniel-san." He rasped, voice grating against his throat.

Mrs. Milo stiffened considerably at this, eyes rounding out with confusion as she leaned over, trying to look around the handyman in an effort to see what was going on. "Daniel?" She repeated incredulously, remembering the name and pairing it with a face as best she could. It was the boy that had just moved in, was it not? What was wrong with him? She tried to peer around Mr. Miyagi, but the man only turned quickly, cutting off all of her thoughts as he barked out an order.

"Call ambulance!" He said urgently, knowing that the boy's injuries would need proper care.

Mrs. Milo froze with surprise, eyes flying wide. "W-what?" She asked hurriedly, a little overwhelmed at the turn her night had taken.

"Call ambulance!" Miyagi repeated, voice rising with conviction as he looked at her. "Tell them hurry!" Startled beyond comprehension, Mrs. Milo dropped the bucket she was holding, the tub falling out of her hands and slamming into the ground. Its lid popped open on impact, its contents spilling out across the concrete with a loud splash, but neither of the two paid attention to the mess. Mrs. Milo spun around on her heel, showing speed that Miyagi didn't know she possessed as she raced around the corner and back to her apartment. Trusting the woman to do as she was told, Miyagi looked back at the limp form, dread clawing deep in the back of his stomach.

Pacing forward quickly, Miyagi grabbed the side of the fence, scaling the wall with ease as he dropped to the other side, only inches away from Daniel. Rushing forward, the old man leaned down quickly, crouching beside the boy as he reached out to him. "Daniel-san." He said worriedly, voice stern and loud as he waited for the boy to respond. But he didn't comply, the boy's eyes were closed gently, as if asleep. And Miyagi might have considered the option, if not for the obscene amount of blood that was pooled around the boy, or drooling out the side of his mouth.

"Daniel-san!" Miyagi shouted, repeating the boy's name a little louder, and regretting not bringing the towels along with him. Blood was rushing out of Daniel in large amounts; he needed something to staunch the bleeding until the ambulance got here. But all his medicine was inside his stall. And he wasn't about to leave Daniel alone in the state that he was in. Bruises and nasty wounds littered the boy's body, his right eye and cheek seeming to be swollen and blackened. If he was left alone, who was telling what could happen to him. Whoever had done this in the first place might come back, or one of his injuries could get suddenly worse. Much as the older man wanted to help the younger, he knew that the best thing he could possibly do was to stay with him.

Leaning over, Miyagi took Daniel's arm gently in his hand, noticing scratches and slight discoloration across the boy's palms as he lifted the limb. Carefully, he lined up his thumb against the center of Daniel's wrist, trying not to touch any of the child's wounds. But they were coated all along his body, there was no way not to make contact with them. He pressed his thumb down on the irritated skin, waiting desperately for a thrum of life underneath his hold. A pulse, a movement of some kind. Anything to show a sign of life. But after a moment or two…he came up with none. A sickening feeling rose from the pit of his stomach, and despairingly, Miyagi was about to realize that there was nothing he could do.

But then, like the quiet ticking of a clock, a small beat twitched underneath the older man's grip, signaling that Daniel was alive. He was breathing, if only just. Relief as strong as ocean's waves slammed into the man, and he felt his shoulders sag as an unknown weight was lifted from them. Shakily, he put the boy's arm down gently against the grass. The usually-green stems of plant life that covered the ground were now painted a dark red color. Daniel's blood was staining the ground around him, much like the paint had marred Mrs. Milo's carpet. Though wounds and injuries littered themselves across his skin, most of the blood was leaking from the boy's head. Both the side temple, and his forehead were marked with a thick red color, and Miyagi knew that was the most serious.

Hesitating for a moment, and realizing that he had no other choice, Miyagi twisted to the side, arm going over to latch tightly on his right sleeve. Tearing the fabric apart with ease, Miyagi turned, wincing as he lifted Daniel's head a millimeter off the ground. The movement caused the teenager to hiss sharply with an unconscious feeling of agony, and Miyagi apologized silently. But Daniel had lost too much blood already; if he kept up at the pace he was now, he would be dead before the moon could even move another half inch across the sky. Doing his best to wrap the head injury with the scrap of cloth, Miyagi tried to ignore Daniel's unconscious protests. The head injury needed attention, no matter how painful it felt.

Miyagi pulled away slowly, looking at his work with a worried stare. The lower half of his shirt sleeve in which he had used to try and cover the child's head was loose. It wouldn't clot the blood very well at all. And he watched as the torn cotton slowly dyed itself purple, blood already seeping through the rather thin fabric. If Mrs. Milo didn't hurry with her call, they could be in deep trouble. Mr. Miyagi scanned Daniel's injuries quickly, eyes grim as he took in the sight as best he could at the moment. Bruises lined the boy's wrists and arms, as if he had been grabbed too tightly. Scratches framed his face, the boy's cheek split open in a nasty-looking gash, along with the spots of gore making their appearance through the boy's clothes. He'd been attacked again, it looked like. Miyagi knew enough about fighting to recognize the wounds that you acquired. But whoever did this had gone too far this time. That much was more than certain.

The elder's thoughts were sliced apart at a sharp wailing noise, Miyagi looking down quickly and bracing himself to see Daniel awake, the awful noise coming from him as he lay in pain. But he was still unresponsive on the ground, not even having moved a muscle. The keening noise was coming from somewhere else, and as Miyagi waited, it seemed to get closer. Realizing there was more than one siren blaring, he looked up, relief managing to strike through him as he saw the flashing lights of both an Ambulance and a Fire truck. They were tearing down the road towards the apartment complex, other cars pulling over to the side and letting them flash by them. They got closer and closer, a beacon of hope for both Miyagi and Daniel alike.

Reaching down once more, Miyagi took the boy's pulse, coming up with the same sort of answer. It was very weak, twitching and beating tiredly underneath the pad of his finger. Miyagi looked closely at Daniel, trying to remember if the boy had ever told him who was causing him this trouble. He'd overheard the boy yelling at his mother after he'd broken his bike, asking to go home to escape California. Were the people that wrecked his bike the same ones who did this?

The slamming of doors interrupted the puzzling thoughts, emergency vehicles skidding to an abrupt stop right beside the door that led into Miyagi's workshop. Paramedics and firemen rushed forward, opening the gate without a beat of hesitation as they dashed into the scene, tugging emergency equipment along with them. One of the lead doctors was shouting out orders already, catching sight of Daniel before any of the others as he took in the boy's state quickly. "We need a stretcher over here!" One of the assistants nodded tensely at the order, backtracking as they turned and doubled back for the car. "Get bandages too! We're gonna have to be careful with this one!" Coming to a halt beside Miyagi, the doctor waved him off quickly, not even looking over at him as he stared down fixedly at Daniel. "We're going to have to ask you to move, sir." He said firmly. "We can't help if you're in our way."

Miyagi hesitated for a moment, looking down at the unconscious kid for a long moment before giving a courteous nod. He pushed himself up to his feet, stepping backwards neatly and giving them the space they needed. At once, the paramedics swamped themselves around Daniel, talking with stiff voices as they tried to sort out one injury from another. The firemen were pulling out the stretcher from the back of the Ambulance car, helping the doctor that had gone back to juggle his load. Toting it back as quickly as they could, the workers accepted the medical supplies without even a nod, too wrapped in their work of trying to save the teenager to worry about manners such as 'please' or 'thank-you.'

A sudden mumble of voices rose up behind him, and Miyagi turned with a start to see a large majority of the complex's residents stumbling out of their apartment's. They looked around blearily, looking as though most of them had been interrupted from their sleep, thanks to the sirens and wailing coming from the cars parked out front. But their annoyance slowly evaporated as they took in the scary scene, the people coming to a hesitant stop on the other side of the fence. The community looked on with wide eyes, questions on their lips as they looked at Miyagi questioningly. But the man was too busy trying to find that one face in the crowd.

Then, as if hearing his thoughts, Mrs. Milo broke her way through the mass of people, pushing and shoving as she weaved this way and that. Her right arm was bent backwards, the old woman holding the hand of Lucille, Daniel's mother. The woman's eyes were panicked and confused as she stumbled after Mrs. Milo, obviously having been ripped out of her apartment without much explanation. Which wasn't uncalled for, most people were too confused to say much of anything right now. But as Lucille caught sight of what was going on, she smoothed out her steps, quickening her pace little by little until eventually, Mrs. Milo didn't have to drag her along at all. Shortening her strides, the older woman unclasped her hands from Lucille's, hands dropping down to her sides as she came to a halt.

She stopped on the other side of the fence, as if unable to go out onto the grass. She watched Lucille go with an uncertain look, her eyes flashing over to Miyagi questioningly. But the old man wasn't paying attention to her, watching Daniel's mother, instead. The woman had stopped uncertainly at the lack of the other, turning around and looking at her oddly. But Mrs. Milo only responded by nodding in the direction of the paramedics.

"What's going on?" Lucille asked cautiously, unable to see past the wall of doctors as she came to a slow halt beside Miyagi. She looked over to the handyman, recognition flashing through her eyes as she did so. Over time, the two had grown to be a sort of acquaintances through her son. After all, Daniel spent almost all his time with the maintenance man; with his mother having to come and remind him to come home all the time, the two had gotten into conversations more than once. And now, she looked to him for answers. "What's happening?" She pressed, when he didn't reply to her. She glanced over at the workmen anxiously. "Is something wrong?" The question was a little obvious in a sense: of course something was wrong.

Miyagi turned back to the swarm of doctors, heart heavy. "Daniel-san." He managed tiredly, watching as Lucille's face slowly stretched from bafflement, to a certain kind of horror. "He is very hurt." He said, trying to explain as best he could. But even he didn't know much about the storyline; he couldn't offer her any kind of comfort in the fact that her son was going to be fine. Because he honestly couldn't tell. He was never one to lie, and he certainly wasn't going to start the habit.

Overcome with a sudden sense of fright, Lucille looked wildly from Miyagi to the paramedics, breathing picking up at once as she tried to wrap her mind around that what happened in this split second. "…Wha…?" She turned, one of the doctors moving slightly to the side, and exposing what was going on in front of them. They were trying as hard as they could to bandage up Daniel before he could bleed out anymore, but already the red liquid was soaking the gauze that they were trying to wrap tightly around his injuries. The doctors were snapping back and forth at one another, torn between trying to fix him here to the best of the their abilities, or taking him to the emergency room with the rest of their equipment to better take care of him.

"With the way he's bleeding, he'll be dead by the time we get there." One doctor snapped.

"That's not true, he'll be fine. We've bandaged him some already." Another replied tartly, trying to apply pressure to the kid's wounds in attempt to clot the gore.

"It's not enough. It's already leaking through." The first one bristled.

"Well, it'll _have _to be enough."

"I don't see-"

"Daniel." Lucille rasped, looking like she had been slapped in the face as she looked down numbly at her son. The boy was wincing and grimacing in his unconscious state at the touch of the workers, gasping and jerking violently as they fought to hold him still. Though his eyes were closed, Miyagi could feel the waves of agony that were rolling off of him as if the boy was looking up at him pleadingly, asking for help that could not be given.

Breaking away from the elder without another word, Lucille rushed forward, voice raising into a sharp scream as she called out. "**Daniel**!" She screeched, voice grating itself through her throat in a painful way. The other residents that were standing off to the side shifted at this new action, eyes widening with pity and sadness. They might not have gotten to know the new family that had moved in just yet, but it didn't matter. It was heart-wrenching either way.

Lucille was nearly to the mass of paramedics before she was halted abruptly. Two workmen had broken away from the commotion, going over and grabbing the woman's wrists tightly, holding her back from her son as they started to pull her away. The mother was fully overcome with panic, going into a desperate frenzy as she tried to jerk away from the people that were holding her. "Ma'am!" One of them grunted, having to concentrate in order to hold her at bay. "Ma'am, you're going to have to stay back! We can't take care of-"

"**Daniel**!" She repeated, not listening to the men as she fought to get to her son's side. "**What are you talking about**? **He needs me**! **Let me go**! **Can't you see he needs me**?" Tears rushed down her cheeks as she stared desperately at the limp form in front of her, the doctors trying their best to ignore her as they started to load him onto the stretcher. They balanced him carefully, trying not to jostle him too much in the process of strapping him in tightly. Daniel's hair hung over his eyes, shielding them from view as he went limp once more. He'd stopped trying to resist the treatment, mind lapsing further as he fell deeper into unconsciousness.

"Ma'am." One of the men restraining Lucille said, as gently as he could. "We can take you to the hospital with us, if you'd like. But you're going to have to calm down." The mother staggered at the words, eyes growing suddenly tired as she stopped thrashing. She watched as her child was loaded into the back of the Ambulance, shoulders shaking wildly. Reluctantly, the men let go of her arms, the limbs swinging down uselessly at her sides. She'd grown numb, going into a sort of denial as she stared straight forward. "…You'll have to give us identification." The doctor went on, sounding almost apologetic. "And explain your relationship to this child."

"'This child?'" Lucille repeated, sounding almost offended. "He's my _son_." She spat.

But the man's eyes only hardened. "I'm sorry. But if you don't have any papers with you, you'll have to meet us at the hospital." He said firmly. "We can't allow somebody without record into the ambulance until there's proof of relation." His eyes flickered over to the ambulance as he spoke, wincing slightly as the car's sirens started up once again. If he didn't hurry, he'd be left behind. Him and his coworker. "I'm sorry." He repeated once more. "But if you want us to help your-"

Lucille cut him off, voice thin and almost threatening as she spoke carefully. She paused after every word, as if treating them with some kind of care. "Let me see my son." She said slowly, not even looking at the men barring her way as she looked to the Ambulance. The other members of the team were hanging back with irritable stares, shouts going over to the men as they yelled at them to hurry up. The firemen were slowly receding backwards to their own vehicle, coming up with a loss of things to do now that the doctors were taking Daniel back to the hospital.

The main reason that Fire Fighters respond to medical calls in the first place were to make sure the scene was safe for the real medics to rush into the situation. That, accompanied with the fact that they assisted with some of the procedures, once the Ambulance was ready to leave, the only other thing they could do was to make sure that others were safe and calm in their own right. And now that most of the apartment's neighbors were out here in the open, it was obvious that there were no more injuries. Maybe a little shock, but that didn't need much handling.

"Let me through!" Lucille snapped.

But the men only shook their heads. "You'll have to check into the hospital." The first one said, already starting to turn back to the car.

The mother flared at once. "Don't walk away from me!" She screamed. "That's my son!"

The second of the two started to turn back around to her, a rebuke already on his lips. But before he could do anything of the sort, Miyagi rushed forward, interjecting himself into the situation quickly. He reached over, clapping a hand onto the woman's left shoulder, watching as the men eyed him oddly. "We will follow." He said calmly, nodding respectfully to the two as he spoke. "We will not be a bother." He assured them swiftly. Lucille opened her mouth to say something else, eyes still painfully distracted. But she managed to close it once more, eyes closing tightly as she ducked her head.

The two took that as an ending to the argument. Turning around quickly, and without another word, they raced back to the car as fast as they could. The lead paramedic was watching with fury-filled eyes as he barked out angered words to the employees. Miyagi only caught a few words, before the slamming of doors cut the sentence off. But from the snatches that he managed to hear, he guessed that Lucille had done her son no favors in postponing the departure from the complex. But he watched as the car eventually peeled out of the driveway, sirens beeping and wailing throughout the quiet night air as it tore out for the open road. Excluding the firemen, who were starting to debate whether or not to ask questions, that left them alone to their own devices.

Surprisingly, Lucille was first to speak, voice stricken and oddly hollow. The tears that were still dribbling down her cheeks had stained her face with make-up, but she didn't even try to fix herself. "What happened?" She asked blandly, unable to phrase the question any better. She watched numbly as the flashing lights of the Ambulance faded away, and with it, her son. She turned to Mr. Miyagi with a desolate look, mouth slightly open as she searched the man's face. "…what happened to my son?" She asked brokenly.

Mr. Miyagi could only shake his head. "Don't know." He managed thickly.

Abruptly, one of the firemen came forward, eyes stern and yet gentle at the same time. He didn't hold the same air of impatience and hardness as the paramedics had, now that Daniel was on being taken to the Emergency Room. He merely looked from both Miyagi, over to Lucille, trying to decide inwardly whether or not they had any relation. Deciding to maneuver around the question, the fireman cleared his throat. "I know that this might not be the best time," He began, voice a little stiff. "and that you might want to wait for the right people to ask them. But if you want us to transfer your answers to the police for you, could we ask a few questions about what exactly happened here?" Normally, that would be the first thing asked in a situation like this. But the time window given was short, obviously. They had been too wrapped in their tasks to even wonder about what had caused the problem they were trying to fix. "Was this…an attack? Self-caused? Do you know?"

"_Self-caused?"_ Daniel's mother repeated, voice almost scornful at the suggestion.

"We do not know what happened." Miyagi said firmly, cutting off any kind of objections as the fireman looked at him oddly. "And we do not have time for questions. Now, we must follow Ambulance." Lucille glanced over at him quickly at this, eyes rounding with a grateful sort of surprise as the man referred to them both leaving together. The thought of going to the Emergency Room alone made the woman's knees threatened to buckle over on themselves. Having somebody else with her might make the process more tolerable.

"…Are you sure?" The fireman asked anxiously. "We could be saving you a lot of trouble."

But Miyagi only shook his head, almost looking as though he were making a face. "Later." He said, voice snapping out more angrily than he first intended. Lucille was looking a little unsteady on her feet; questions wouldn't help the woman's worries at in any way. It would only make them worse, which was the opposite of what they really needed. "We need to get to her son right now." The words were adamant, and the man soon realized that his efforts would be wasted if he tried to object any further. Giving a slow nod, and seeing that there wasn't real reasons to hold them back any longer, he started back the way that he had come.

"Alright." He said, starting to backtrack. But then he hesitated, looking over at the mother and letting a flash of pity go through his eyes. "…I'm sorry." He said, albeit reluctantly. "…about…Daniel." He said, having heard the boy's name more than once from someone he could only guess as his mother. Lucille said nothing, though her lips pressed together a little tighter at the words. "I hope he makes it out alright." He offered.

Miyagi gave the man a smile, which was more than Lucille was offering. "Thank you." He said.

Nodding once, the man turned around slowly, ducking his head as he trudged back to the others in his division. They had loaded up, readying themselves to take their leave as well. One of the other workers had been milling through the throng of people, checking them over and making sure that nobody had been too shocked, or hurt as well. But he came up with nothing, thank goodness, doubling back and returning as well.

Miyagi watched the transition silently for a moment or two, letting the situation sink into him as best he could. Though he was missing pieces of the puzzle, he figured that he knew more about it than Lucille did, who had arrived only to see her boy taken away from her. The quicker they got to the hospital, the better off things would be.

The woman was unsteady on her legs by now, swamped with her thoughts of worry as she caught herself against the man's side. Her eyes were round once more, her panic coming on in bursts, like shock normally caused to a person. "Are you coming?" She asked tightly, voice a little shaky in its wake. She knew how highly her son had thought of this man, and how close they seemed to have gotten in the months that Daniel had been here. He seemed to finally have things to talk about when he got home after he had started to be with the man.

His conversations had changed from clipped answers like: "Yeah" or "Whatever" to long, elaborate stories about what he had done or helped out with. His face going from downcast, to a little bit brighter. As if whatever worries he had had before in the day were lifted off his shoulders a little. The thought of her son's smile caused the woman's heart to rip open with a ragged hole, and she found herself suddenly dependant on this one person to help her through it. Whether or not it was because Miyagi had been with her son when he had been injured and might know what really went on, or if it was just because she needed the same kind of comfort now that her son had needed ever since they'd come here, she had no idea. She couldn't think straight.

As if getting her thoughts, Miyagi gave her an encouraging smile. "Hai." He agreed swiftly. "I will drive." He said, looking over the woman's shaky stature. Eyes flickering over to his car that sat neatly beside his workshop, Miyagi added: "It not much. But we can get there soon."

Lucille didn't reply to his assurances as well as he'd hoped. "Did you see what happened?" She choked out.

Miyagi shook his head regretfully. "No. Only after." He said weakly.

The woman's shoulders drooped, as if a million pounds were suddenly dumped onto her. She let go of Miyagi quickly, hands going up to press against her face as her shoulders started to shake more violently. "Oh, God." She sobbed, voice thick and riddled with sobs as she cried into her hands. "He told me that something was wrong. He came home more than once…" She paused, overcome. "How could I have ignored him so easily?" She whispered. "How could I have been so careless?"

"Not your fault." Miyagi assured her quickly.

Still, she continued to sob.

"Don't worry." He said. "It will all turn out okay."

Pausing a moment, the mother lifted her head ever so slightly, looking up from her hands and fixing her teary-eyed look onto the man. She reached up, wiping her eyes clear a little roughly. "How do you know?" She asked desperately, searching for more assurance from him.

But Miyagi only stared steadily back at her.

He couldn't answer.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

A/N: I will keep updating as long as you all review. Some of you said that only a few more chapters would suffice, others said that a long story could work out well. So, I'm kinda on the fence. So, I need y'all's opinion. Cause trust me, I can go on a story as long as you want me to XDD

I tried to make this as good as the other chapter. Did I succeed? :D


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Double Digits!? :O

I feel so special. :3

Whenever I search up the script for this movie, there's this little pop-up in the corner of my screen that says: 'FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.' …I think this is probably most likely maybe for educational purposes…. ;^; …shoosh….o-o The government don't have to know~

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

One cannot even begin to fathom how full a hospital can get on the night of a holiday such as Halloween. You could barely go ten steps without having to pause a moment and wait for another family to bustle by quickly, or step away as doctors and nurses made their way briskly down the hall. Everyone seemed to have something to do, or somewhere to go. Except for her.

Lucille stood against the wall of the hospital's lobby, stomach tied in way too many knots as she stood anxiously beside Mr. Miyagi. They had arrived what seemed like forever ago, and despite their trying to explain the situation, they always got the same answer: 'You need to wait out in the Lobby in order to sign in. We'll get to you as soon as we can.' But apparently, their version of 'soon' isn't the same as her's. They'd been standing here long enough for the mother to watch about ten different families pass through.

Kids with broken arms, kids with a cough that couldn't seem to go away, kids with unknown rashes or allergic reactions; you name it. Standing in the corner of a room gave you a good view of what was happening, and Lucille had watched them all come and go carefully. The numbers were actually pretty daunting; if she wasn't so caught up in her own problems, she might have stopped to feel sorry for the groups that came and went.

Now, trying to divert her attention as best she could to the late-night news that was playing overhead, she was distracted by a mother and her son sitting off to the side in one of the chairs. Blinking, Lucille turned fully, watching the two with a curious look. The mother looked peeved to say the least, tongue sticking into the inside of her cheek as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Her eyes were narrowed angrily, and Lucille felt that if somebody walked through her line of vision, they would burst into flames on contact.

"Egging houses." The mother in the waiting chair grumbled, shooting a glare over at a sullen-looking teenager sitting beside her. The teen sunk lower in his seat at her disappointed tone, giving a wince as he shifted what looked like a rather swollen-looking ankle to the side. "Honestly, you should know better." The mother shot over at her child. "You're lucky it was only that and not something worse. I'm calling your father as soon as we get the results." She let out another scoff, obviously fed-up as she turned away with a huff.

The teenager let out a frustrated groan. "Please don't tell dad." He pleaded. "It was just a one time thing, and-"

"It'd better be." She snapped, slicing his words in half quickly. "And your father is going to see the cast anyway, if you're getting one. There's no use in trying to hide it." She paused a moment, watching as her son rolled his eyes pointedly. "You'd better be grateful I even came to pick you up. Honestly. If you try and pull that mood on me all night, we're going to have a serious problem. And by 'serious', I mean more than what it is already. So I'd best not try anything stupid again." Her voice was tough as nails, and the teen sulked underneath the weight of it, growing subdued as he looked off to the side, dejectedly.

Watching the pair with a saddened look, Lucille wondered dimly whether or not she could be able to do the same. To sit there beside her son and point out how ridiculous he had been, or rebuke him for staying out so late. _You should have seen this coming. _She'd be able to say. _Let's get home. You're going straight to you're room, because you are grounded. _But just thinking about saying those words was enough to choke her throat closed, burning painfully as tears stung her eyes yet again.

She could never be able to reprimand her son for anything like this; she barely knew what had happened in the first place. All she knew was that she was just starting to get ready for bed when Mrs. Milo had burst through her door, eyes wide and frantic. Even when she had seen the Ambulances' lights flashing in the distance of the night, she never imagined that it had been for her son. She never thought that Halloween Night, when she was given most of the night off, could have ended up with her being barred away from her bleeding son, unable to rush to his side.

The sight of her son…who she had tucked in at night, chased away the monsters in the closet for, and even acted as a shoulder to cry on (though the times were very rare when they came)…was now lying in a hospital bed somewhere. Alone. The thought shattered her heart into pieces, and the mother had to suppress yet another small cry. Quickly, she reached up, hand going to her cheek as she brushed her eyes carefully, trying to hide the tear that had tried to run down her face. She hoped that Miyagi wouldn't notice of her, it was the last thing she needed. But she had an odd feeling that he knew what she was trying to hide nevertheless.

A young women marched down the hall, her long brown hair clipped back into a rather messy bun. She held a clipboard tightly to her chest, and she looked like she was in a certain kind of rush. But she hesitated suddenly, strides faltering until she was standing still. The woman turned, eyes immediately landing on Lucille with a rather curious look. The mother stiffened as her gaze rested on her, and felt a small twinge of panic as the woman changed direction, turning around and pacing over to her with that same curious look on her face.

"Hello." The woman greeted, eyes flashing as she took in the sight of pair. "Um, I come down this hall a lot during my night shift," Lucille glanced over at the wall clock, inwardly thinking that it wasn't a 'night' anymore. "and I couldn't help but notice you've been standing here for a long time." The words were accompanied with a nervous laugh, and that's when Lucille realized how young she was. If she worked here, she wondered what kind of job the girl held. "Do you two need anything…? I'm not sure what you're waiting for, but if I could help you in any way possible…" She paused for a moment, before: "I was just heading back to clock out, actually. But I've felt bad just passing you for a long time. Is there anything I could help you with? I could point you down to the cafeteria? Find you a room?" The words came out as questions rather than suggestions as she shifted a little awkwardly.

Appreciating the help, Lucille gave a small smile. "Oh, no thanks." She said quietly. "I'm just waiting for somebody to get back to me on my son."

"How long have you been waiting?" The girl asked, concerned as she tilted her head to the side.

The mother went silent for a moment, suddenly finding it hard to speak around the lump in her throat that had been sitting there all night. She tried to choke it back, but she just ended up making a slightly comical squeaking noise. Mr. Miyagi spoke up for the first time since they'd come here, making himself known as the woman turned her attention over to him with a small jolt of surprise. It was like she had forgotten he was there in the first place.

"Her son had accident." He explained as best he could. The worker's forehead creased slightly at the man's accent, trying to adjust to it as quickly as she could. "Came after Ambulance to try and stay with him, but now we can't find him."

"Oh." The girl said, blinking as she straightened. "You haven't been addressed yet?" She asked.

"No." Lucille said flatly, finding her voice. "We've been told to 'wait.'" She glanced over her shoulder once more at the clock, eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of the time. "That had to have been at least an hour ago." She grumbled, almost talking to herself. But the girl frowned deeply at the words, taking her own look towards the time before clearing her throat.

She extended her clipboard, eyes flickering down to the pages that were arranged neatly on the cardboard. "Name?" She prompted, tone suddenly becoming brisk. The two blanched for a moment, not responding as they eyed the woman a little oddly. Perking, she repeated her words a little more gently this time as she walked them through it. "I need his name." She corrected herself. "If I know his name, I can clear it with the people working the Front Desk that I know you." She jerked her head back as she spot, indicating the workers behind her. "Because I've totally seen you around before; I went to your wedding and I was your flower girl."

She looked over at Lucille, a small flash of pity going through her eyes as the mother suddenly changed from tragically depressed, to having a little bit of hope. Gratitude welled in the mother's eyes, and the girl merely flashed her a smile in response to the shift in mood. "Since I know you guys 'personally', they'll most likely let you in without too much of a hassle. I'm surprised they kept you waiting this long….I guess just because we've been so busy tonight." She gave an exhausted huff, as if picturing what she had done in her wok shift. "…Of course, I'll need to go see what's going on before they let you in. I'm a nurse trainee; I only cover in things like helping out the other doctors, so I'm not sure what's going on right now according to your son. But you'll be able to at least talk to somebody that does, this way." She paused for a moment, glancing down at her clipboard once again, scribbling something down on the paper. "Name?" She prompted yet again.

"…I can't trouble you." Lucille finally managed. "I appreciate it, but if you're getting ready to go home-"

"Name?" The woman repeated, more firmly as she gave another smile.

Lucille hesitated a moment more, glancing over towards Miyagi as she looked a little lost. But the man only shrugged, tilting his head towards the nurse as an invitation. He was only here as a chaperone, and because she had asked the task of him. He wasn't about to be making medical decisions here too quickly. Shoulders drooping visibly, the mother turned back to the employee in front of her, eyes softening as she relaxed considerably. "His name is Daniel LaRusso." She said, voice coming out choked as she said her son's name.

The nurse nodded slowly, eyes roving down the page as she tried to search for his name. "Ah." She said matter-of-factly. "Mine hasn't been updated in a while, I guess." Looking up, she beckoned them along with her right hand, turning around and starting out of the Lobby. "We can just go up to the Front Desk and ask to know what's going on. Or what room number he's in. You're the mother, so they should jump at the chance to have you fill out all that pesky paperwork." The words were dipped in sarcasm as the younger girl went along, Lucille and Miyagi trailing after her. "Nevertheless, they'll help you now that I'm with you."

"Thank you." Lucille said thickly, eyes welling up for what seemed like the millionth time that night. The thought of a girl that had no idea who she was or where she came from, staying after her work time just to help her was enough to stun her on spot. The only thing that she knew for a fact was that the mother was heartbroken, and that she wasn't getting any help from the busily-working doctors in the crowded hospital. "Thank you so much. This means a lot to me."

"No problem." The girl said, tossing a look back at them with a small wink. "Now, before I go up there claiming to have been a flower girl for you, or some kind of close friend…I'm gonna need to know your guys' names."

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

The party was coming to an end. It was actually pretty impressive that it had lasted this long in the first place, though. Students expected by now for the faculty to have shoved them out of the school in packs of tens or twenties. But the teachers merely hung towards the back of the gymnasium, silent as they watched the teenagers have their fun. They must be waiting for the kids to tire themselves out and start thinking about leaving on their own. But looking around now at the still-packed walls of the gym, and listening to the blaring Halloween music, Ali wondered if that time would ever come. It was like the party just started, for all the gusto the student body was still showing. If they were waiting for the flame to die out, it might take a while on their part.

Ali stood in a small cluster along with her other friends, smiling and laughing along with the others. Her shoulders shook with laughter, but the smile plastered across her face didn't seem to reach her eyes as she tried to force herself to have fun. She'd gone out and danced with her friends, she'd swept by a few of the other cliques of girls and gotten a few snatches of gossip, and she's had like fifteen million glasses of punch in the last hour alone.

But no matter what she did, or how much effort she put into doing it, she couldn't tear her mind off of Daniel. It was stupid, she knew: worrying about somebody. She didn't like to make a habit out of it, or else she'd end up being too much of a worry-wart. But she couldn't help but think back to the last time she had seen him, which was hours ago. He'd been tearing out of the boy's bathroom, having gone there only minutes before to get the egg out of his hair. Ali had been waiting for him outside, trying to think of things that she could say to make conversation later between the two.

But her thoughts were shattered as the boy stumbled out of the bathroom, Johnny and his group of jerks close behind. She'd reached out, trying to find out what was going on. But Daniel had been going too fast, only having time to yell out: "'It's coming around!'" before he was out of the school. Now, she was left with those three words mulling themselves over in her mind. She knew what he meant, she'd seen how wet Johnny was; making the connection between the water and the bathroom, she figured that Daniel had done something inside there to get him angry. Why else would he be running?

Normally, she wouldn't think about it, or at least she'd make more of an effort not to linger on it. It's just…that was hours ago. _Hours_. Not seconds, not minutes. Hours. Surely he would be back by now? Where was he? Was he okay? No call. No message through a mutual friend; if they even had one, she had no idea. But _something_, was that too much to ask for? She tried to hide her fraying nerves, trying to disguises that fact that she was getting more and more worried as time went on. But as time went on, she came to realize that she wasn't doing such a hot job.

Susan sighed irritably where she stood beside Ali, eyes flashing somewhat as she paused in her conversation. Turning over to the blonde, she spoke up finally, voice tightly clipped. "Ali, just forget about him." She sighed heavily, giving a slightly exaggerated roll of the eyes. "If he's not coming back, he's not coming back. What do you expect from him?" Ali swallowed back her flash of anger at the tone in her friend's voice, managing to hold back her retort carefully. "It's been a few hours." Susan went on, not noticing her hidden emotion. "If he hasn't come back by now, you might as well just kiss the thought goodbye." She topped her off her words with a loud smacking noise, pursing her lips out far in the motion of a smooch.

Ali rolled her eyes, frustrated as she glanced over at the clock on the wall yet again.

"What do you see in him?" Barbara asked, speaking up from her side of the circle. Ali, surprised by the question, turned her attention back onto her friends, expression a little bit lost. "I mean- Johnny was a jerk and all, but at least he had looks." The other girls lingering around chuckled at this, watching as Ali turned a small shade of pink. Blush scudding itself over her cheeks, Ali felt herself grow warm underneath her costume.

"He has looks." She snapped, voice almost lost in the loud music.

"How can you tell?" Susan giggled. "They're usually hidden under bruises. I'll give him one thing: he really does suck at riding a bike."

Ali gave a small hum in reply, not really paying attention anymore. Her eyes had caught sight of movement off in the corner of the gym, snatching her focus away from her friends as she craned her neck. Realizing that Ali wasn't looking at them anymore, Barbara twisted around, doing her best to follow the girl's gaze in the crowded area around them. "Huh." She remarked, the others trying to see what the two were looking at. "Would ya look at that." She looked a little satisfied, as if this only proved her point.

Ali's eyes only narrowed slowly.

Johnny and his group of goons were back, rather surprisingly. They looked like they had just gotten here, and they probably had, she figured. Their ego was so big, surely she would have noticed them here before now if they were? The group looked like nothing had happened, crowing over themselves like usual and fueling the party as people flocked to them. It was like nothing had happened. Like Johnny hadn't run out of the school in haste after Daniel, spitting mad and furious. Had nobody remembered that little event?

But looking at them now, Ali realized that something was wrong. When she went out with him, she'd gotten to know his friends, unfortunately. And the others were defiantly acting a little bit more awkward than they normally did. They didn't all show it, most of them just looked the same. Easygoing and without much of a care at all. But Ali's eyes drilled thoughtfully into the center of the circle, right at Bobby. He was always the most outspoken one of the group, so he wasn't doing as well as the others in hiding what was going through his head.

He looked a little put-out, quiet and subdued where he stood. He kept glancing at the clock, looking as worried as Ali felt herself. Was he waiting for something? Or someone, maybe? His hands wrung together nervously every moment or so, and it only furthered her suspicious feelings. Where was Daniel? If they were back…

"I'm going over there." She grumbled firmly.

"What?" Susan asked, startled as she turned to look oddly at the girl. "You do realize that that would mean getting close to Johnny?" She paused a moment, mouth hanging open slightly before adding: "_Voluntarily?_"

Normally, this would have made Ali laugh. But her fists only clenched tightly at her sides, the girl pacing forward quickly and leaving her friends without another word. The girls stared after her, not making a move to stop the girl before she got too close. They merely hung back, eyes wide with shock and maybe a little excitement as they observed from afar. A few of them were probably already constructing the gossip about the scene that was sure to come after this moment in their mind. _I was there. _They would say to others that asked. _I was there when Ali went up to Johnny at the Halloween Party._

Weaving through the still-thick crowds, Ali ignored the grumbles or glares that were shot her way, shoving her way through the throng of students in order to get closer to her Ex. Face settling into an angered scowl, she finally broke through the last ring of people, stumbling to a clumsy stop in front of Johnny. She tried to cover up her fumble quickly by straightening as quick as she could, but felt like she had just made it more obvious.

At first Johnny had the nerve not to notice her. He was busy telling a story to a listening group about how he'd taken down two people at a time just on his own. But slowly, his words tapered off into silence, the boy finally catching sight of Ali as he turned over to her. A sly grin crept over his face, and Ali responded by crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "Look what we have here." He mused, the students that had been listening to his story brightening at the prospect of drama. "Hey, there." He looked her up and down, eyes flashing. "You supposed to be an angel?" He asked, a small hint of a flirty lift in his tone.

Ali flared at once. "Save it." She growled through clenched teeth. "I wanna know where Daniel is."

Johnny didn't even bat an eyelid, reaching up and gripping his chest. "Ouch." He said pointedly, earning laughs of encouragement from those watching the scene. "That really hurts, you know." Ali realized that slowly, more and more people were catching onto their talk. Eyes went to train themselves curiously on the group, students edging away and giving them space. Pretty soon, a pretty noticeable gap separated them from the rest of the student body. People still talked, and the music still went on overhead, but Ali was acutely aware of the fact that they now had an audience that was watching them.

Forcing herself to stay relaxed, Ali made a special notice to keep her voice calm. "Can you just tell me where he is?" She asked, grip on her arms loosening a little bit as she softened her tone reluctantly. Her eyes narrowed as they flickered over to rest on Bobby once more; it looked like he was the only one that she could rely on for the truth, so far. He'd stiffened considerably at the mention of the boy's name, the movement not going unnoticed by the blonde girl. Her glare only sharpened as she looked back at Johnny, grinding her teeth together almost painfully.

Something was wrong.

Johnny gave a careless shrug. "How should I know?" He snapped angrily.

"Because you were last seen with him!" She retorted, feeling a little childish in her yelling.

"We didn't-"

"Don't give me any crap excuses, either!" She yelled, voice raising in its volume as it was able to be heard over the music. Heads turned their way, hundreds of eyes going over to lock on the scene unfolding in the center of the gym. Ali knew that pretty soon, the faculty of the school would intercept their conversation, drawing the two away from one another and making sure to prevent any more fights. They already had almost lost the party in the first place, what with whatever happened between Daniel and the Cobras. Or maybe they would let the mood of the party get sour for a while, just to make sure that it would end sooner rather than later. "Tell me what happened!"

But instead, Johnny just oozed. "Aw. Are you worried about me?" He teased smugly.

Bobby shuffled anxiously where he stood.

By now, the whole student body was looking curiously in their direction, Ali's face shading itself a scarlet red as she found herself center of attention. Most everybody knew the history between Ali and Johnny, and they also knew that something was going on to get the two even more angry towards one another the past month. Though whether or not they knew that they one thing was a boy named Daniel, Ali couldn't really be able to tell all that clearly. All she knew for sure was that whispers and anxious mumbles were already spreading around her like wildfire. If she was opposed to the rumors going around about her in the first place, she sure wasn't helping them to go away right about now.

"You're a creep." She spat, trying to divert her attention from the audience.

From the corner of the gym, the principal's face creased with worry. The man started plow forward, going through the crowd and heading over towards them. But Johnny either didn't notice, or didn't care. He merely shot Ali a rather lopsided grin. "Don't be like that." He drawled, earning yet another chuckle from others around him. "Why don't you just hang out here tonight?" He offered, the principal slowing uncertainly, wondering if the fight would disperse on its own. "It's not my problem if that jerk left the party and didn't come back for ya."

"That's-" Ali broke off suddenly, chewing her bottom lip angrily as she drew a blank.

Johnny rolled his eyes. "Do you wanna stay here, or not?" He demanded almost lazily. "I can't help it if you want to be with someone who brushes you off."

"Like you didn't?" She grumbled in a retort.

He held up his hands, palms facing outwards. "Just sayin."

Ali balled her hands into tight fists once more, but this time the principal was ready. He squeezed past the people observing the confrontation, shooting them disapproving looks as he did so. But then he turned, putting himself in between Ali and Johnny, looking from one to the other sternly. "Alright, now." He said swiftly, pushing Johnny back a few spaces to try and get them even more apart from one another. "Let's stop this fighting, alright? I'm sure we can both get along okay and have fun before the party ends."

Ali pursed her lips tightly, glaring daggers over the man's shoulder.

"Now I'm sure we can solve this problem in a swift and easy-"

"He's not like you." Ali said stiffly, cutting the principal off without thinking. The older man looked surprised as he turned towards her, but she barely registered the motion. "He'd never go any of the stuff you did. That's why I like him so much." The last few words came out as a small grumble, Johnny barely hearing the words himself. The teenager twitched angrily, eyes narrowing in a dark sort of anger as he glared at her. Bravely, Ali only stood a little taller. "Hate it all you want, I'm not going to stop just because you're too stupid to realize that we're over."

Amazingly, Johnny only shrugged after a moment. "Go ahead." He snarled.

Bobby turned abruptly, shoulders hunching as he walked away from the scene. Ali made a move to follow, but she felt a flash of disappointment as the boy disappeared into the thick of the crowd. Something still felt wrong, and Bobby was starting to tip her off. Turning and giving Johnny one last hard look, the girl turned on her heel, marching away from both him and the principal as she retraced her steps.

Her friends weren't where she'd left them, probably having edged closer to see the fight more clearly. If you could call it a fight. Nevertheless, the girls immediately surged forward, trying to intercept her as they fired out questions upon questions.

"Where are you going?"

"What happened?"

"What's going on?"

"What're you gonna do now?"

Ali closed her eyes, brushing past them almost rudely as she willed herself patience. "I'm going to Daniel's." She said coldly, still struggling to get over her anger, which was proving rather difficult at the moment. "I'm going to find him and make sure that everything is okay."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Susan asked, having the nerve to sound a little irritated.

"I don't know!" Ali blustered. "But I'm going anyway!"

"What if he really is staying away from you?" A girl asked, walking briskly beside Barbara. Her green eyes flashed, and she tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear a little worriedly as she took in her friend's furious state of mind. "If he wants to be alone, you should let him." Ali's pace faltered at the words, eyes growing somewhat heavier as she persisted in walking forward. "If you go there, you might just be making things awkward."

By now, she'd gotten to exit of the gym. Behind her, the party was slowly restoring itself back to life, kids getting over the brief moment of suspense as they returned to their conversations. Her hands hesitated as she raised them to push open the door, and Barbara noticed the reluctance. "Just stay here for the rest of the night." She suggested a little helpfully. "You can go back to Daniel's tomorrow or something. It's not like he's gonna go anywhere if he's avoiding you."

Ali shook her head. "I don't think he's ignoring me…" She said lamely. "Before, he seemed…"

She couldn't picture him purposefully avoiding her. Before he left the party, he'd seemed just like he always did. He'd told a few jokes, he'd smiled…and he'd made her happy, like he always did. But then again, she hadn't seen much of him this past month, now that she thought about it. She'd brought up the issue tonight while they were dancing, but he'd assured her that he hadn't been hiding out anyplace special. But…was that just an excuse? Had he put up with her for a while and then decided afterwards that he might as well just stay home?

That didn't really seem like him…right?

Ali shook her head for the second time, steeling herself. "I don't care." She said firmly. "I still want to see him. If he's avoiding me, I'll have a few things to say to him. If he's not, I want to know if he's okay." She caught Barbara and Susan exchange an exasperated look, as if they were growing tired of this. Ignoring the fact as best she could, Ali reached out and pushed open the door. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, maybe." She called over her shoulder, already starting out into the hallway.

"Good luck, I guess." Susan called out irritably, brushed the wrong way at the thought of her friend flaking out on the party.

Ali waved to show that she had heard, but she didn't stop walking.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"It's taking too long. Is it taking too long? I think it's taking too long. What're they doing? Is it something important? Is something wrong? I think something's wrong! Why can't they let me inside the room? Why can't they let me see him? He's my son, they should let me see him! This is so stressful. I want to know what's going on. Can't I know? What's wrong with me knowing? I've been waiting for hours, and so have you! We deserve to be able to know what's going on! We've come all this way only to stand in a room like…like…I don't know what we're like, but we're like something that waits a long time!" Lucille mumbled the words angrily, the words coming out so fast that they slurred and meshed together. It was hard to discern one sentence from another.

"I'm sure they do all they can." Miyagi said gently, not even touched by her worries.

"Well, yeah." Lucille said, frustrated. "I just wish they'd do it faster."

The nurse that had helped them so much had told them to stay back with the paperwork while she did her best to get somebody. That had been so long ago, that Lucille had already finished filling out the forms. And there were a lot of them.

She let out another heavy sigh, turning around and looking wearily at the clock. She would have to call into work soon, to tell them that she couldn't make it for her next shift. But she wasn't going to do anything until she had seen Daniel. And so far, that hadn't happened yet. So she refused to even look over at the phone. Her worries were solely for her child, and nothing else mattered right now.

"…Thank you for coming." She said finally, catching Miyagi's attention as he turned back to look at her. "You know…getting me here…and being there for Daniel after it happened. It means a lot to me." Her eyes softened as she looked down towards the ground. "I'm sure that you have a million other things you could be doing right now." _Like sleeping. _"So…it just means a lot that you would push those all aside to be here."

Miyagi gave a small nod. "No need for thanks." He said easily.

Lucille hesitated a heartbeat before asking. "Did Daniel ever tell you about anything going on?" She asked softly. "He never told me outright what was going on. But…I'd seen him come home more times than one upset." She closed her eyes. "Even if I don't know what happened really- I can't help but blame myself for not doing anything sooner."

"Not your fault." Miyagi assured her before she could go on. "Daniel-san never told me what was going on, I only helped take mind off it." Lucille nodded, getting the answer that she had been expecting. "But I am sure that he would not blame you for it." His eyes darkened a moment as he looked straight forward, staring intently at the wall across from them. "Likely blame self." He commented after a moment, voice suddenly thoughtful.

The mother's shoulders drooped. "Maybe-"

"Sorry." A voice suddenly spoke, surprising both of them as they turned towards the sound. The nurse that had been so helpful from before was looping her way back towards them, this time accompanied with another person. A tall man, much older than the girl, followed after her, a doctor's coat swishing back and forth behind him as he walked briskly. "Sorry about the wait." He repeated as he got closer, Lucille brightening at once as she realized this must be the doctor. "We've just been so hectic tonight. I apologize."

He gave a tired huff as he came to a stop beside them, the nurse standing at his side with a rather proud look on her face. The man extended his arm, stopping halfway so that his hand stuck straight out. Immediately, the mother reached over and shook it, feeling a wave of relief as she did so. "My name is Dr. Chance." He said, Lucille taking her arm back to her side. She frowned at the name, feeling a small twinge in her chest as she mulled over the name.

It seemed ironic.

"And you're the mother of Daniel LaRusso, am I correct?" He asked, looking down at Lucille through the spectacles of his glasses. The mother stiffened, turning around a little too quickly as she nearly bumped into Miyagi. Reaching down and scooping up the stack of papers that she had filled out while she was waiting, she handed Dr. Chance. Taking it from her with a nod, the man looked down, scanning it over with a keen eye, trying to get the gist of information as quick as he could. "I see." He said. "Well, I wish you could have been here sooner."

The words stabbed a rush of pure alarm through the woman's body. "Why?" She asked at once, the doctor jumping at her sudden tone of voice. She started to take a few steps forward, advancing unconsciously. "Did something happen? Please tell me he's not dead! He can't be dead!" Miyagi reached out, throwing out his arm and using it as a barrier between the woman and the doctor. She stopped walking abruptly, blinking rapidly down at the man's block. But then she shook herself, taking a few shaky steps backwards.

"No, ma'am." Dr. Chance said firmly, a small smile playing on the edges of his lips. "No, it's nothing like that."

Lucille sighed, relaxing visibly as she closed her eyes.

"Let's see…" Dr. Chance said thoughtfully, looking down at his own papers as he read off of them. "We got him into the Emergency Room pretty fast, so that there wouldn't be any more delayed problems such as the injuries getting worse. We were able to stop the bleeding after a while, but he lost a lot of blood in the process. We had to give him stitches across his forehead and the side of his head, which were two of the most problematic spots. He had a lot of damage concerning his head, and for a while we were worried about hemorrhaging in the brain or some other serious kind of effect. But he just has a bad concussion, which is rather good news considering it wasn't the first thing that came to mind.

"His stomach is bruised, and later on, we're going to have to check the ribs to make sure that none were broken. Other than that, we bandaged up the other injuries and made sure that they wouldn't bleed out." He turned to the nurse standing obediently at his side. "I'm sorry that I had to be tracked down." He said once more. "I wasn't aware that you've been here; nobody tells me anything. Have you been waiting long?"

Lucille opened her mouth to reply, already bristling. Miyagi cut her off. "No." He answered for her. The woman shot him a put-out look.

"Yes, well, the reason I said you should have been here earlier is because we did eventually manage to get him talking." Lucille snapped to attention at this, eyes lighting up at once. Catching her excitement, the doctor went on quickly. "He wasn't getting up and holding out conversations, he's nowhere near that stage of recovery just yet. But after realizing he had a concussion, we had to do our best to wake him up and try to keep him talking. Because most times, sleep is something that people with head injuries have to avoid at all costs. We just asked him questions, making sure that his memory was working, or that he could make sense of what was going on around him.

"His eyes were still closed, but we did get a few answers out of him. We asked him what his mothers name was, and he said: 'Lucille.'" He paused for a moment, as if trying to remember. "We asked him what school he went to, what he liked to do outside of school, what his favorite book was, things of that nature. We were just trying to get him to keep talking, you know? So that we could delay him falling back asleep the longest we could. Eventually, though, we realized that it was alright to let him go to sleep for a while, just to make sure that he wouldn't get too tired out. That was…thirty minutes ago."

"Oh." Lucille said softly, deflating.

"But we can show you to his room, now." Dr. Chance said, sounding upbeat. "It's just up a floor from here and then down to the left."

"Oh…" Lucille repeated, looking over rather nervously in Miyagi's direction. "Um…yes, please." She said stiffly. "Both of us, I mean."

"Of course." Dr. Chance said simply. He beckoned them with one arm, making a sweeping gesture after him as he turned and started down the hall. The mother and maintenance man -both a surprising team at best- trailed after him. Nearly forgetting the other girl in the group, Lucille turned around after a moment, looking over at the nurse, who stood a little ways behind them, having not moved. She flashed the woman a cheery smile.

"This is when I leave, I guess." She said.

"Thanks again." Lucille said after a heartbeat of silence.

The girl only smiled wider. "Good luck." She said. "With your son, that is."

And with that, she turned around quickly, shrugging her bag over her shoulder as she made for the exit of the hospital. Lucille watched her go carefully, a sinking feeling in her stomach as the girl made for home. The place she should have been an hour ago. She'd been kind to stay back over her work hours to help the two of them, and she was magnificent in being able to track down her son's room when even Lucille had no knowledge of it. Just like everything else that she had done, the girl only meant well in her parting words.

But Lucille had to wonder. Good luck?

…Did that mean she thought she needed it?

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

You always handled things with care. Things made of glass, feathers, jewels, or anything easy to break. You had to carry them with extreme caution; you couldn't make a single mistake, otherwise you risked dropping your precious bundle. You could trip up and drop it, unable to do anything as it fell down to the ground. When you couldn't handle your precious items with care…they become broken. The fact is obvious in its own right, and yet it would always strike you across the face:

The word.

Broken.

Because that was what it was. When you weren't able to hold the things most cherished in just the right way, as to shield them from everything. And that was what he was.

Daniel was lying motionless in a hospital bed, eyes closed and head lolled slightly to the left on his pillow. It was exactly like he looked when he was asleep at home, and the thought was enough to tear Lucille apart. The only other difference were the bandages wrapped tightly around him, the garish stitches that scarred themselves across his head, the incessant beeping of the monitors that her son was strapped on to.

Standing at her son's bedside, Lucille found herself leaning onto Mr. Miyagi for some kind of support. Normally the thought would make her snap right back to her feet, for she had no close relationship with this man. But right now, the awkwardness of the situation was the last thing on her mind. Her ankles were shaky, rubber as they refused to work. And Miyagi made no move to show that he opposed the notion, merely silent as he look on. He'd come here to be support, and that was what he was going to do.

Off to the side, Dr. Chance was spouting off medical information like he was a fountain. Talking about things such as the recovery schedules they'd have to start following, or medication that her son was put under. Asking about allergies, which she had written down on the form. If they weren't going to read her form, why force her to fill it out in the first place?

"He's doing pretty good for his first few hours along." Dr. Chance said, listening to the mechanical beeps that were emitting themselves from the monitor attached to her son. Lucille thought she saw a frown cross over the man's face as he scribbled down on his notepad, but it might have just been her imagination. "He's had a few normal episodes that are usually expected after a thing such as this. Like pain, nausea… we've diminished the pain as much as we could with medication. But, like I said, he's going to have to sleep in intervals to make sure that his head injury isn't affecting him too much, so we can't overdose him with so much that he'll be too tired."

"Do you know what caused it?" Miyagi asked, making Lucille jump. The man was so quiet, it usually came as a shock when he spoke up.

"We're thinking a fight. Attack." Dr. Chance said, voice casual, as if he were talking about the weather or something simple like that. "Of course, we don't know anything for sure yet. We'd have to wait until the patient is stabilized enough to remember what happened, it's a very careful process. If we bring it up too soon, it could be very bad. Then again, there is the prospect of the police coming here and demanding answers." Lucille stiffened at this. "But, rest assured: there is no protection greater than the medical field." He gave her a small wink at this. "We'll make sure nothing too serious happens."

"…Thank you." Lucille murmured, twitching at his words.

Sensing the woman's remorse, Dr. Chance took in a slow breath. "Well." He said. "I have a few more patients to take care of at the moment. I'll leave you alone here." He glanced over at the clock. "In about twenty minutes, though, we'll have to come in and wake him up. Do another survey to make sure that we didn't miss treating anything." Pausing for a moment, and waiting for any questions, he gave another nod. Turning around quickly, the doctor marched out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. The room was so quiet, Lucille could hear his footsteps as they echoed away. She counted the steps until they disappeared altogether, swallowing a lump in her throat as she realized that they were completely alone now.

As she regained her footing once more, Miyagi took a few paces off the left, distancing them respectfully once more. Clearing her throat, slightly embarrassed, Lucille shifted uneasily. "I'll have to call into work." She said softly, stiffening at the dry sound of her own voice. "I'll have to give my shift to someone else."

"Hai." Miyagi replied. "Want me go get phone?"

Lucille didn't answer him for a moment, eyes dark and heavy as she stared down at her son. At his battered form, the ugly wounds littering his body here and there. "'Nothing too serious?'" She murmured, repeating the doctors words aloud. Her voice was sharpened with exasperation and grief, and she turned towards Miyagi with eyes that were round pools of misery. "Isn't this serious enough?" She asked, voice sounding almost childish.

"Not yet." Miyagi let out a tired sigh. "Must find out who did it."

"How?"

"Daniel-san must tell them." He said after a pause.

"What if he doesn't?" She asked, voice small as she remembered how proud her son could be at times.

Miyagi didn't reply.

She answered her question herself, staring at her son regretfully. "I guess that's what I'm most afraid of." She whispered.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

Me: TINKERBELL! -dog looks up from her toy- TINKERBELL I HATE WRITING PEOPLE THAT HAVE ACCENTS! HELP ME. -dogs gets up- HELP ME TINKERBELL, I'M NOT DOING IT RIGHT. -dog leaves- TINKERBELL DON'T ABANDON ME IN MY HOUR OF NEED.

More like HOURS. Gosh. This darn thing took too long to write. I have Finals next week. If I fail them, I'm gonna have to blame . There's really no other explanation for it.

But yeah! I worked really hard on this, and I have to say two things:

1.) The nurse didn't mean she was 'flower-girl' for THEIR wedding. She meant Lucille's. Not Lucille and Miyagi getting married.

2.) Miyagi X Lucille? Ahahahahaha. No. Let me go throw up in a toilet. He's just there for moral support, so don't go thinking I support that pairing. Cause…no. No offense if you like it, but…no.

Anyway: What POV would you like next? There can be a million of them.

Updates are nice…reviews are nice…I think we can make a deal here. O3o


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Finals…God. Oh my good golly gosh. They're over.

Walking with my friend from Smoothie King and passing an advertisement for a Karate class:

Me: Look! First week is FREE! Aw, man, you gotta go check that out! :D

Him: ….No.

Me: Why not? ((takes in deep breath)) YOU CAN BE THE BEST.

Him: Please don't.

Me: AROUND.

Him: I will kill you.

Me: CAUSE NOTHING'S EVER GONNA BRING YOU DOWN.

Him: I'm walking home.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

It was way too late outside, and the last thing that was needed was going out and investigating. Her mother would be furious whenever she got home; no doubt the woman was waiting inside the Living Room right now, watching the clock with a deep frown on her face. Ali pictured a grounding once she got home, but that would be worried about later. She'd come this far, surely she wouldn't stop just because she might get solitary confinement for a few days?

The night had gone cold by now, and Ali hugged herself tightly, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself up as much has she could. Her teeth chattered every once in a while, as if reminding her that it was technically Saturday now instead of Friday. She tried to brush it off as best she could; having left the school grounds nearly five minutes ago, it was too far to turn back now. She was almost to Daniel's apartment complex by now, or at least where she hoped he lived. Because of having a few 'end-of-the-year' parties after school, she'd found out where Freddy Fernandez lived.

He lived in the same apartment complex, right?

Hoping that her hunch was right, but mentally slapping herself at the same time, Ali pressed on. Though she wasn't sure how long it would take her in hindsight to get where she needed to go, she'd been walking for a long time already. And having only ridden to his apartment complex nearly a year ago with her friends in a car…let's just say she wasn't sure she was heading in the fastest direction. She was walking blindly for a place she didn't even know for sure was there.

She gave a small huff of anger, genuinely starting to get irritated as she plodded along. If Daniel actually was doing what everybody else was claiming and ignoring her purposefully after she'd gone to all this trouble…she was going to be extremely mad. Mad wouldn't even begin to cover it. Although, she guessed that out of everything, she wouldn't be all that surprised if he did. Even if it didn't really sound too much like him, Ali never really did have a good past with boys. She'd opened herself up to Daniel in hopes that he would be different from most of the Californian jerks that were at her school; if he _was _avoiding her, this was just going to be another example of a situation where she should have known better.

She frowned at the thought of it, eyes growing much more sad as she looked straight forward. She felt a pang in her chest as she realized that the words were true, and she gave a gusty sigh. A small part of her was still clinging tightly to Daniel, voice almost offended as it pressed: _Daniel isn't like that! He's different! You'll see! _But the stubborn piece of her mind was slowly getting quieter and quieter with each step, being squashed underneath her other worries and thoughts of yet another rejection. The voice tapered off slowly, until it was completely silent in its wake, leaving Ali to pad down the sidewalk completely alone. Her worries wouldn't fade, and they were starting to swallow her bit by bit.

But suddenly, there was a loud rumbling noise, Ali snapping to attention at once as she stiffened. Previously, the road she'd been going down had been silent, so the change was enough to make her jump out of her skin. Whirling around, her heart picked up at once as she saw the car start to slow down at the sight of her. Eyes wide, she watched as the automobile gradually came to a stop in front of her. Mind going into a panicked frenzy, it reverted into 'Paranoiac' mode, firing out facts and figures that Ali really did not want to focus on right now. _It's midnight! It's Halloween! You're alone! There are no other cars! What are you doing? Run for the hills!_

The window rolled down, accompanied with a loud humming noise. A face peered out from behind the glass, revealed as the window disappeared underneath the paint of the car. "Lost?" The voice drawled in an almost teasing tone. At once, anger and humiliation rushed through Ali at the familiar face, and she felt her lower lip poke out in an angered pout. The face smiled at her angered look, giving a roll of their eyes at her put-out expression. "Hey, don't blame us." They said, amused. "We knew that you'd go off who-knows-where. You're not that hard to speculate."

Finding her voice, Ali flared at once. "Susan!" She shrieked, reaching up and digging her fingers into her skull with a pained look. "You scared me! What're you thinking, pulling up when there are no other cars!? I thought I was going to be murdered!" Susan and Barbara, seated neatly inside of the car, snickered at her tone, sharing amused looks between one another. Glaring at either of them, Ali felt her hands ball into fists at her sides. "Why are you even here?" She asked sharply, not over her fright as her tone remained barbed. "I thought you didn't care about Daniel."

"Oh, we don't." Barbara said dryly, leaning forward and checking her make-up in the rearview mirror.

"But we care about _you_." Susan said matter-of-factly. "And in _your _case, we saw that you left in the opposite direction of his apartment." Ali started at this, looking around with a slightly surprised look. She turned beet red at this, blush making her face glow as she turned back towards them. Susan just gave a small shrug with one shoulder. "The party was getting kinda boring anyway, so we decided that we'd come out here and steer you in the right direction. You know, before you could accidentally wander off a cliff or something."

Ali crossed her arms tightly over her chest, sticking her tongue angrily into her cheek. "Gee, thanks." She grumbled. Drawing herself up after a moment, Ali pushed her way forward, still glaring at them uneasily as she let herself into the backseat of the car. Sliding into the middle, she leaned forward with a small huff. "Take me to Daniel's, then." She ordered swiftly. "If you know the way so much better than I do."

"I'm pretty sure anyone could know the way better than you." Barbara teased. But before Ali could repeat her demand, she turned the car around neatly in the empty road. Tires squealing against the ground, Barbara started back the right way, retracing all of Ali's steps way too quickly. Trying to fight back her recent stab of fear and embarrassment, the blonde exhaled slowly, looking down and smoothing over her costume. It had gotten a little frayed from her walking so far, and she found herself wishing dimly that her mother wouldn't notice. But if her mom didn't notice the worn edges, she was sure to notice the dirt patches and mud stains along it. The pure white from before had slowly turned an ugly tan color, ruining the dress's effect and making her feel a small twinge of disappointment.

"You know, you could be starting a real trend right here." Susan commented, being the first to break the silence. "You could be like the first ever pilgrim." Ali blinked, forehead creasing over with confession as she tilted her head to the side. "You know, 'cause you're actually standing up to a guy that's ignoring you. Most girls just put up with it and then wait for the relationship to end itself. Who'd ever think of going up there and getting in his face about it?" She was teasing of course, but that didn't really help the matter anyway. Ali twitched with anger, locking her jaw backwards and waiting a few moments before replying. She didn't want to accidentally rip her head off or something. At least, not too much.

"He's _not_ ignoring me!" She protested in a huff.

"Whatever floats your boat, hon." Barbara sighed, eyes flashing with amusement.

Trying to distract herself as best she could, and hoping that her friends would stop bringing up the issue over and over again, Ali changed the subject. Twisting around and looking out the window, Ali watched the buildings and palm trees flash by with a blank expression of thought. "So what'd Johnny do after I left?" She asked out of curiosity. But looking back at the girls sitting in front of her, and catching their excited looks that they exchanged, Ali realized that they took her question in an entirely wrong way. They wiggled their eyebrows back and forth, a total message passing between them like: 'She is so not over that guy.'

Ali fisted her hands tightly, biting down as hard as she could on her bottom lip to keep from snapping at the pair.

"He didn't do much." Susan answered after a moment of silence. Looking away from Barbara and trying to make it look like she never did look at her friend in the first place, she took to looking out the window as well. She gave a huge yawn, glancing at the clock with a disgruntled look. "He just went after that one guy who left, I don't really remember his name. He looked upset though. I think his parents are divorcing."

"No, that's Tom." Barbara said, correcting her. Susan looked surprised at this, straightening in her seat with a jolt of confusion. "Tom Robinson?" Barbara stressed. "_His _parents are divorcing, not Bobby's. You're thinking of Tom, he told us that his parents were divorcing today in English." Ali shifted uncomfortably in her seat, looking out the glass of the car and wondering how much time was left until they got to Daniel's apartment complex.

"…So Bobby's parents aren't divorcing?" Susan quizzed.

"Nope." Barbara drawled, veering off and taking an exit.

"Then who's bird died?" Susan asked.

"I don't know. Why do people even have pet birds?"

"Decoration."

"That's a stupid reason to get a pet."

"No it's not, they're pretty. You want pretty things in your house."

"I'm just saying that you can't just-"

"Hey." Ali said flatly, cutting their sort-of argument off with an irritated scowl. Susan and Barbara were silenced by this, cut off as silence filled the car once more. Ali glanced at the clock with a sense of nervousness. No doubt her mother would be raging mad right about now. "If it's not too much trouble, I want to get to his house as quick as I can." She said sharply. "My mom is already going to flip out, I'd like for myself not to push her so far that she burns down the house."

"Calm down." Barbara said breezily. "We're here."

Ali straightened considerably at this, eyes wide as she peered out the window. That was pretty fast.

Sure enough, the large Apartment Complex that Daniel lived in was getting closer and closer. She breathed out a quick sigh of relief at the sight, feeling her frayed nerves start to calm themselves a little bit. But as she started to try and tie them back together, Susan's voice made them all untwist from one another for a second time that night. "That's really weird. I wonder what that's about."

"What?" Ali demanded, narrowing her eyes as she turned back to her friend. Susan didn't answer, merely pointing out against the glass of the window, expression a little bit awed. Following her friend's gaze towards the Complex, Ali didn't understand what she was supposed to be looking at for a moment. But then she froze, eyes rounding out at once as she caught sight of the flashing lights. Police cars were scattered around the Complex, blue and red flashing lights casting glares back into the girls' faces as they winced away.

Much more cautiously now, Barbara parked the car on the curb in front of the building, leaning back and letting out a low whistle. "Wonder what went down here." She mused, looking from Susan to Ali. Neither of the two allowed any kind of explanation to let its way out; after all, they knew as much as Barbara did. But while Susan only looked mildly interested, Ali was slowly becoming pale and shaky where she sat. Although assumptions were always things that she tried to steer clear from, she found herself doing just that for about the millionth time that night.

Abruptly, without a word or warning, Ali pushed the car door ajar and slammed it shut behind her. Barbara and Susan called after her in harsh whispers, yelling at her to get back into the car. But she paid no heed to their yells. Instead, she jogged up the path, eyes sharp and calculating as she took in the sight before her. Though the police cars has been parked in the parking lot, the police officers had congregated along the strip of grass towards the back of the building.

They milled around like they were walking on thin ice, and Ali wondered dimly what could be found out there. When her and Freddy got into their rare conversations, he usually only talked about the pool outside. He never mentioned anything really interesting anywhere else in the building. So if nothing was interesting there, why would something have happened over on the other side of the fence? Though looking at it now, in person, Ali had to look twice at the pool to realize that it was…a pool. So, she guessed that it just showed what she knew about this place.

For a while, Ali hesitated, wondering whether or not she should try and see what the police were doing there in the first place. But she shook it off after debating over it. She'd come here for Daniel, and she wasn't going to get herself tangled up in whatever mess was happening over there. Slightly fearful that a police officer might stop her before she could get up to the apartment, she did her best to skirt around them, turning and walking along the emptied pool and making for the staircase. Grabbing the metal railing, Ali winced as it wobbled back and forth under her grip. Much as she would hate to sound mean or shallow, she was out of her element here, that was for sure.

Scaling the staircase, she walked up one creaky step after another, grimacing to herself every time a creak came to make itself known. Pushing it away as quickly as she could, the girl finally managed to get herself to the first floor, feeling a wave of relief as she dusted her hands off as best she could. She wasn't scared of heights, she was just….scared of falling. Some people said that it was the same thing, but she would beg to differ, thank you very much.

"Miss?" A sudden voice behind her made the girl's limbs lock together, the girl going stiff as a board as her eyes widened. When she didn't turn around, the voice came again, more persistent this time. "Miss? Are you a resident in this building?" Cursing herself mentally with each shuffle she took, Ali turned around slowly to look back towards the sound. From below, a man in uniform peered up at her sternly, and Ali immediately recognized the glowing police badge pinned onto his coat.

Swallowing back the lump in her throat, the girl wrung her hands together nervously. "Uh…" Screaming at her brain to work, Ali shook her head rapidly. "Uh- no, that is to say." She said in a heated rush. The man stared up at her with the same look, refusing to tear his gaze away as he waited for further explanation from the teenager. "I'm just coming here from a school dance." Ali said, wincing a little as her voice cracked anxiously. The man tilted an eyebrow at the detail, starting to nod. It was like he was agreeing with her, which just made her more nervous than she already was. She didn't even think that was possible. "I was just coming here to find a friend. They kinda…left before the party ended." She threw a glance over her shoulder, shuffling her feet from underneath her. "I wanted to make sure they were alright before I went home myself."

"You know what apartment they're in?" He asked.

"Oh…" Ali drew a blank, once again realizing how little she knew. "…No, I don't."

God, she sounded stupid.

The man hummed a quick note, nodding slowly before speaking again. "And why wouldn't they be alright?"

Ali drew a hand nervous through her hair. What did this guy want? Did he think she was connected with the thing he was looking into over there? Her eyes flashed over to the stretch of grass beyond the fence, stomach churning into a tight knot at the thought of being suspected for something she didn't do. And under such stupid reasons! That she was just _here_? But then again, she had to admit that she would look at someone like herself oddly too, if she were anyone else. Here she was at midnight, dressed in a dirty white masquerade dress with a mask clasped in her right hand. So yeah, she could guess that she looked a little weird to him.

"Um…it's just a feeling I had." She said swiftly, trying to step around any worries that might be aimed in her direction. She still had no idea if what happened at the dance was connected to Daniel's sudden departure; besides, if she admitted that something had gone wrong, she could potentially get Daniel, Johnny, his gang, and herself into trouble. So she tried to play off her worries as just that of a concern that didn't really need to be addressed, hoping that it looked pretty convincing. Or at least more convincing than it felt coming from her. "I just thought that I'd swing by and check in on them. Wish them Happy Halloween before I went home."

"What's their name?" The police officer asked invitingly.

"Pardon?" Ali squeaked, feeling her throat close with panic.

"Their name." He repeated, looking at her skeptically. "You _do _know their name right?"

Ali refused to speak, going silent.

The police officer nodded slowly, taking a step backwards. He reached out, using one hand and waving the girl down the steps and back towards the ground. "Come down here a minute, I have a few things I want to ask you." He said, making it clear that she had little to no choice. Ali eyed the staircase with a small twinge of discomfort, realizing that it would be ten times as worse coming down the stairs rather than going up. But the look that the police officer was giving her was starting to burn through her skin, so she screwed up her courage before going over and stumbling down the steps as quickly as she could. Going in a rush, and somehow thinking that it would make the experience better to go faster, she ended up stumbling down into a clumsy halt squarely in front of the man questioning her.

She straightened, feeling a red glow warm over her cheeks as she tried to smooth down her rumpled costume. It was starting to get really uncomfortable; she hadn't been aware that she would be taking long hikes and going up rickety stairs when she was investing into this dress. By now, it would have been a good thing to take into consideration. Because by now, she must resemble something close to that of the Bride of Frankenstein.

"What's your name?" The man asked when she finished fussing over herself.

She responded at once, not missing a beat for what seemed like the first time since this encounter. "Ali Mills." She replied dutifully, inwardly wincing as she let the words slip. Her parents were obviously well respected people, and she hoped with all her heart that the officer wouldn't report her being here or something. Even if she couldn't think of any way that she could really be in trouble right now, she couldn't help but worry over it. Wanting to snatch the name back out of the air, she remained quiet, trying her best to look self-assured.

"Well, Ali." The man sighed, looking over her head and up towards where the girl had been standing only moments before. "You want to tell me the name of the friend you were trying to find?" He asked. Ali blinked at the odd question, looking at him with a small hint of apprehension. Seeing her uneasiness a little more clearly now that she was closer, the officer shook his head. "You're not in trouble." He said, watching as Ali visibly deflated with relief. "I just want to see whether or not we can help each other out really quick." He gave her a small wink, and that did not help Ali's nerves as she bit her lower lip once more.

"Um…" She paused, hesitating for a few heartbeats. But then she let out a small breath of air, closing her eyes as she did so. "His name is Daniel LaRusso." She said, stiffening once more as the police officer's expression turned grave. "He left the party early, and he never came back…" She looked out towards the cars, slowly connecting the dots as her tone tapered into a muted whisper. "I was just coming back here because I was worried. I-I didn't realize that any of you all were here, so I- I can just go back to my car and leave. I-I'll come back tomorrow, if you want. I just wanted to pop in and…and make sure that things were okay…"

The police officer nodded once more; Ali wondered how many times he'd done that since she'd seen him. "Ali, I'm sorry to tell you this." The blonde looked at the man closely, swallowing uncomfortably as she clenched and unclenched her hands. The officer eyed her nervous tic for a moment before shaking his head and going on with his explanation. "But Daniel LaRusso has been put into intensive care at the hospital." Ali's eyes flew wide with shock, and she felt her knees turn to jelly underneath the weight of the words. She stumbled slightly at the fact, but managed to barely hold herself upright, forcing herself to pay attention to the man's words as he went on.

"He's acquired some terrible injuries, and we've been put up here to look for evidence on who might have caused the wounds." Ali turned numbly to look back towards the force of men patrolling the grass, and she felt her stomach drop down to her feet with a sickening feeling. "We don't know the condition that your friend is in right now, and the medical field won't let any of us in for questioning. We were going to start knocking on doors here, but you say you him leave you school dance?"

Ali looked back at the man, the police officer giving her a look that quite plainly said: 'you'd-best-not-be-lying-otherwise-I'll-have-to-do -something-I'll-regret-later-on.' Rapidly, she tried to wrap her mind around what had just been given to her, feeling as if the entire world was crashing down around her. It might be a sufficient exaggeration to pick those words, but she could feel her head pounding as the grass spun in tight circles underneath her.

Daniel was hurt? How hurt? How much did someone have to be wounded in order to be put into the hospital? Much less the intensive care! Did Johnny have anything to do with it? Surely he wouldn't go that far to hurt him? Not enough to land him into intensive care! A list of possible explanations ran through Ali's hyperactive mind: a hit-and-run by a car, a trip that ended very very badly, another really bad biking accident, anything other than the most pressing possibility. The thoughts raced through her possibilities, and yet the girl could only stare numbly as they passed, unable to voice any of them.

Instead, she just let her head dip forward and back in a slow nod.

"I understand this can be a lot to take in." The man said, already starting to pace back the way he had come. Jerking to attention, Ali looked left and right, realizing that he was probably expecting her to follow him. Forcing her legs into motion, the girl had to jog to keep up, slowing once she got to his side as she did her best to fall into step with the man. "And we are sorry about Daniel. But you must realize that in order to stop the sorrow that friends and family feel, we have to catch who did this in the first place."

"He's not dead, is he?" She asked in a sharp gasp, finding the sentence oddly-worded.

The police officer shook his head. "As far as we know, not yet." He said, not doing such a hot job in comforting the girl. They rounded the wall, and started back towards the police cars lined up on the parking lot. And inwardly, Ali started to catch on to what this man wanted. And that didn't help her mood all that much either. "But we still have to gather evidence to draw this to a close. And, like I said, we were planning on asking around the Complex. But we were never aware of a school dance." He looked at her curiously out of the corner of his eye.

She cleared her throat thickly, giving another wince. "Um, Halloween." She elaborated. "The school hosts dances every year on big holidays like Valentine's Day and Christmas. They're big events, usually most of the student body goes there." She fell silent for a moment before: "Daniel was there for less than an hour. He was dressed as a shower."

The police officer obviously didn't care about what he had been dressed as. "I see." By now, they had passed up the other men among the grass and weeds, having stopped by the very first police car parked out front. Ali was dimly aware of her friends as they gawked out from their own car, and she hoped that the officer didn't catch sight of them as well. "Well, I'm aware that it's very late." He glanced at his wristwatch, glancing at Ali as he did so. "But I believe you have some information that could be vital in this case. That is, determining who might have been in question for the crime."

Crime. Ali twitched at the ugly word.

"Would you come down to the Station with me and answer a few questions?"

Before Ali could stop herself, she heard her voice act out on its own will. "Sure."

The officer smiled at her easy bend, turning around and grabbing the passenger side of the automobile. Heaving backwards, he opened the door for her, waiting expectantly as the girl only looked down at the gesture blankly. Well, at least she wouldn't have to sit behind the bars, she thought sarcastically. Bending down low, the girl snuck another glance at the badge on the man's coat as she settled herself into the car's seat. It didn't look like it was fake.

Catching her look, the man fumbled a moment, reaching into his coat and withdrawing what looked like a small wallet. Unfolding the thing, he displayed the inside to her, the girl's eyes narrowing as she saw a picture of the man himself. It was like ID. Except there seemed to be a whole lot of legal stuff surrounding his picture. "Detective Crane." He said shortly, flashing her a smile that matched the one in his wallet.

Ali, feeling a little more relaxed at the show of ID, flashed him her own, though much weaker, grin. "Ali Mills." She said, introducing herself again quietly.

"So now we're in business." He said, tapping the hood of the car a few times before straightening and shutting the door behind him. He turned, starting over to the other side himself. Taking the chance, Ali pressed her forehead against the glass, straining to look out towards where her friends were. They were still in their own car, open-mouthed as they watched their friend willingly get into the car of a police officer. Trying to get their attention, she waved in their direction, silently willing them to catch sight of her. She made the shape of a phone with her thumb and pinkie, pressing it to her ear and mouthing: 'Call my mom' dramatically. If she didn't notify her mom of whatever was happening right now, then the entire world will explode. As if it already hadn't what with Daniel being in sudden danger. Not to mention the fact that she was now in police custody, technically.

But the windows of the car must have been tinted in here, because they didn't see her. Jerking, she had enough time to sit back in the chair before Detective Crane got back inside the car. She smoothed out her dress, becoming quiet as she tried to make it seem like she wasn't doing anything. Not taking the chance for the man to ask her what she had been doing, she asked her own question first. "Is Daniel okay?" Her voice cracked slightly at the words, and the Detective tilted his head to the side slightly, as if just now realizing that she had the potential to be closer to the kid than just a friend.

"Well." He said simply, looking the girl up and down. "…Hopefully now, he will be."

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

A/N: Sorry if this is shorter than the others. I just finished school like a few hours ago. And after taking Finals, I'm just really tired. Halfway through this, I was debating just smacking my head on the keyboard and posting what came out XDD

THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! Oh my goodness, guys, seriously. Every review for this story is like a little win for me! I love it, and I love you guys! This story is actually getting more reviews than my Rise of the Guardians one, so that's certainly a surprise! But a good one at that! ^^

IMPORTANT: I am free basically ALL summer. I don't have much to do until the end of July, so my updates literally just depend on reviews! During summer, since I have nothing else to worry about, I just update whenever I feel like I've gotten enough reviews on a story. I can update the same story twice a week if I get a whole bunch of reviews!

So what do you say? You want an update now, or later? ;)


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. Since it's summer, I tend to update the stories that get the most reviews lol

Update: Everything distracted me when I was typing this chapter. EVERYTHING. I got side-tracked watching TODDLERS AND TIARAS. I don't eve LIKE Toddlers and Tiaras. Like, what even…?

Another Update: Da heck…some people don't have last names in here ;^;

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"Dr. Chance?" The soft call came from the other end of the room, the man jerking with surprise at the mention of his name. Turning around with a spin of his office chair, the doctor relaxed as he caught sight of one of the nurses that worked at the hospital. She gave him a brilliant smile as they made eye contact, leaning backward slightly as she jerked her head back to indicate the hallway behind her. "Our hour's almost up." She stated, having to stifle a yawn as she glanced over at the clock.

Catching the doctor's slightly amused look, she immediately rose on the defensive side. "Hey, gimmie a break." She said stiffly, pushing herself off of the doorway and straightening up self-consciously. The older man got to his feet with a large sigh, grabbing up one of the tan folders that were stacked on his desk as he started back towards the helper. As he passed her, she turned on her heel, padding after him obediently as she gave in, letting out a large yawn. "This is only my third night working this late." She reminded him with an irritated scowl. "The hours are hard to get used to."

"Yes, well, it gets easier." Dr. Chance teased, flashing her a small wink as he came to a stop in front of the elevator. Shifting his folder from one arm to the other, he fussed for a moment, trying to sort out the items in his arms. The nurse gave a short sigh at this, leaning over herself and pushing the 'down' button with a small click. The doctor sighed hotly at this, but didn't respond to the sly look that was flashed his way. Instead, he gave a small sigh, opening up the folder and skimming over it quickly to refresh his memory.

The elevator doors pushed themselves open, the inside surprisingly empty. This was odd considering the fact that it was normally filling itself to the brim with patrons that were residing in the hospital. Giving a satisfied hum, the nurse stepped inside the steel compartment. Dr. Chance followed behind her closely, not even glancing up from his work as he took his place in the elevator beside her. The Nurse sighed softly as the doors closed behind them, staring at the gray doors silently as the elevator started its descent. After a moment, she turned over to the higher-up, blinking with sudden interest as she craned her neck. "Interesting read?" She prompted.

The doctor sighed softly through his nose, giving the girl an absent-minded shrug in response. He didn't reply audibly for a moment, and the woman gave a resigned huff, fixing her mindset to a silent - and awkward- elevator ride. But then the doctor looked up for a moment from the folder, turning over to her and giving her a smile that was void of humor. "Cases like these always get to me." He said eventually, shaking his head as he looked back down at the writing.

Once again, out of sheer curiosity, the nurse leaned over to skim over the file. "Oh." She said simply, blinking as she withdrew neatly, separating herself respectively from the older man once again. "Daniel LaRusso?" She asked for confirmation, the doctor giving a silent nod as he observed the floor count above their heads. They were almost to their destination. "How come?" She asked before she could stop herself, snapping her mouth closed with a guilty kind of jerk. Obviously if he was upset by it, whatever it was must have really hurt him. Asking a question as idiotic as this one was really a stupid move.

Catching the large jump that the girl made, Dr. Chance gave another dry smile. "It's alright." He said softly, snapping the folder closed with a small slapping noise. "I once had a daughter; her name was Cressida." He paused a moment, blanching. But then he shook himself, going on swiftly. "She was a beautiful young lady with a lot of promise for later on. Of course, she was wonderful in the present as well, but…" He cut himself off, realizing that he'd been rambling. He shook his head to clear it, realizing with a shock that their floor was almost here. "She died early…probably in junior high or some other grade." He paused a moment before shrugging listlessly. "She was run over by a car. The whiplash was too much for her. We tried to hospitalize her, but…" He shook his head slowly once more.

The nurse swallowed thickly, guilt and sadness welling up in her chest like a balloon as her eyes rounded out with pity. "Oh, my." She whispered hoarsely, lost for words at first. But then she steeled herself, gathering up her courage before she reached out. She placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder, leaning over so that he could see her apologetic look. "I'm sorry." She managed, voice subdued. "It must be hard for you, then. I wouldn't be able to do it."

He shrugged for the second time. "It's part of the reason why I became a doctor." He explained, watching with a straight face as the elevator doors shifted open slowly. Taking the lead now that the folder was tucked away under his arm, Dr. Chance made for their designated room. His nurse filed quickly after him, still looking pained as she gave a small wince, cursing herself for not thinking things through before speaking. Nevertheless, the doctor didn't show that he was offended in any way, and by the time they got inside the room, he'd reverted back to his normal self.

The man opened the door silently, poking his head inside for a moment and checking out the room before going inside. "Call the others, would you?" He requested over his shoulder, aimed back for his helper. She started at the instructions, blinking a moment or two before nodding rapidly, dipping her head with an obedient flourish. She turned swiftly, dashing out of the room and rushing down the hall to assemble the other doctors that were assigned to this case.

"Hey there." Dr. Chance called heartily, giving out a small hum as he once again checked over the folder. Then he looked up, surveying the room for the first time. Like all the rooms in the hospital, it was bleached white and pale gray, light colors of that nature. There wasn't much color in the room, and the thought always seemed to get underneath the man's skin whenever he became too preoccupied with thinking over it. After all, you were forced to be in this place already, you didn't need to be bored even more than you already were by the monotone color schemes around you.

Shaking himself mentally and forcing himself out of contemplating the décor, Dr. Chance turned his attention on the things that mattered more: the people inside the dull room. Lucille had been sitting tensely at her son's bedside, but at the arrival of Chance, she shot to her feet. The old man that had accompanied her -her father?- had been standing on the other side of the room, beside the wall. They looked like they'd been talking together upon his entrance, and he briefly wondered if he had interrupted something. But his matters here were of importance, and by the look on the mother's face, he figured that she wasn't cross with his intrusion. In fact, she looked anxious. Her hands wrung nervously in front of her as she shifted from side to side.

These signs of a person were the first signals of stress; Dr. Chance had worked with plenty of people to notice the warnings now. And although he couldn't blame her for her feelings, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. More at himself than anything. As a doctor, he was supposed to be able to quell the woman's fright and put her mind at ease. She shouldn't have to worry over something like this, that was his job. But once again, with a case such as this…sometimes his line of work just cut a little too close to home.

"Hello." Lucille murmured after a heartbeat of silence. She paused a moment, biting her lower lip, before tearing her gaze away from the doctor, taking instead to looking down at her son. "…Is there…something wrong?" She managed, voice tinged with a hint of dread at the notion. It was obvious that she was the kind of person to get frightened easily; while the type was normally hard to work with, Dr. Chance had a long history of dealing with people exactly like this, thankfully. So he put on a smile as he paced forward deeper into the room, going over the scenario even though he had already only thirty minutes ago.

"Of course not." He said easily, flashing her an easygoing grin as he came to a stop across the bed from the woman. "We're just going to run a few mandatory tests to make sure that everything is running smoothly. It shouldn't take too long, and we'll be out of your hair soon enough." He gave a small wink as he said the words, and he felt a flash of relief as the woman seemed to calm down a little bit. "But I will have to ask you to step outside." He added after a moment, watching as the woman's brief smile was dashed quickly. "It's nothing bad." He assured her swiftly. "It's just routine thing. It's a common fact that people who find themselves with head injuries such as this shouldn't sleep for a very long amount of time at all. Such actions could probably lead to some kind of coma, or something along the lines of that." He gave a dismissive sort of sigh. "Nasty things that we might not want to deal with."

"Oh…alright then." She responded softly, subdued by the word as she gave a small nod of her head. Standing for a moment, almost lost it seemed, she turned around to glance back at the old man standing a ways away from her. "We'll just go outside, then." She said simply, as if the idea was created by her, and not given to her in the first place. Pausing one moment more, and giving her son one last fervent look, the mother turned on her heel quickly. Followed closely by her company, the pair exited the room quickly, shutting the door behind them with a silent click.

Dr. Chance lingered in the sudden quiet for a moment, as if unable to break the peaceful pause that had been given. But then he shook himself, looking instead down at the only other person in the room. The teenager that was limp in the hospital bed was exactly the way he had left him, which was a little relief. Considering the fact that his stomach was in such a poor state, movement would probably do more harm than good at the moment. Leaning over, the doctor started the thorough examination slowly, taking great care as he swept over the child expertly. He might as well start the test before the others got here, it wasn't like he needed their help for this part.

The other spots on the boy checked out well enough; the scrapes and bruises that decorated his skin hadn't gotten any worse. They hadn't gotten any better either, though it had only been a short time since he'd seen him last. Leaning over slowly, the doctor reached slowly, taking the bangs that were hiding the boy's forehead as he tried to take a look at the more touchy injuries. He noticed that the tight gauze wrappings that had been held onto his head were dirtied now. Both from the dirt that had been in the wounds in the first place, and the fact that the gashes were still leaking blood and gore through their stitching.

Glancing at the door, Dr. Chance sighed softly with disappointment as the Nurses still did not return. He'd just have to manage on his own for a little while longer, which shouldn't be too difficult as long as he didn't do anything too drastic. The monitor on his left side gave out strong beeps right now, and hopefully it'd stay that way. Looking over one last time at the door, the doctor reached over and carefully undid the bandages with as much care as he could.

He deposited the dirty wrappings on the small table that had been left for him by one of the other nurses. Along with a few tools, they had left it for him so that he could work. But as he went to work, he had to start and wonder where the person who had left this gotten off to. They left his work here, but they weren't here to help him work. The equation didn't really add up, but he did his best to shrug off the situation. Focusing on the task at hand, the male turned back to the child's head, frowning slightly at the still-gory state of it. Even if they'd stitched the wounds closed, it still looked as though they'd have to keep an eye on it.

Red was smeared across his forehead and had highlighted itself in his dark hair. Some was a fresh pink, but most of it was an old shade of scarlet that was slowly crusting over. The blood mixed with the sharp lines of the stitches was painful to even look at, but thankfully Dr. Chance had grown accustomed to seeing things such as this. He didn't bat an eye at the garish look, turning and gathering up one of the rags that were laying in a heap on the table beside him. He strode over to the bathroom, footsteps pattering rapidly on the tiled floor as he entered the room. He wetted the towel quickly, not too keen on letting the patient alone for very long, despite the fact that he was still asleep. He'd have to wake him up soon anyway.

He'd have to clean the wound with water before applying any kind of further medicine to it. But as he leaned forward and pressed the damp cloth to the boy's forehead, the body underneath him gave a sudden jerk, tensing up immediately at the touch. The doctor jerked backwards, more out surprise than anything else.

The boy on the hospital bed stiffened like a board, teeth gritting together tightly as if he were choking back a cry of pain. And by the look of agony that was immediately written across his features, the older man knew that the assumption couldn't be far from the truth. As the boy's heartbeat picked up with his sudden burst of panic, so did the beats that were emitted from the monitor. The high-pitched beeps started to get closer and closer together, and the sheer speed that it spiked up to was enough to jar the man's usually-calm demeanor.

Daniel's right hand clenched into a strained fist, shaking slightly as he let out a pain-filled moan. Dr. Chance opened his mouth to try and comfort him, but surprisingly, the child spoke up before him. It was a broken sort of speech, like he didn't have the energy or focus to piece together fluent words. The older man had to lean down a little in order to hear clearly, and when he did, he became almost confused. "She…gone?" He managed tightly, through the barrier that his teeth created.

Dr. Chance straightened as he fell silent once more, confusion writing itself across his face for a moment or two before he grasped what the boy was asking about. He looked over at the door that had closed behind the boy's mother, the hallway looking to be empty from the window beside it. The woman must have gone somewhere else while she waited. "I'm afraid she is." He answered softly, turning his gaze back down at the teenager with a slight frown. "I'm sure if-"

"Good." He said lowly, cutting off the doctor unconsciously as he ducked his head an inch.

The movement caused fresh blood to well up in the tears, the doctor giving a worried noise at the sight of it. "You're going to have to sit still there for a while." He warned immediately, turning back to his dampened towels as he started to mop up the spills. "You've got a few nasty blows to the head there; if you move, it'll only make it worse." The teen still grimaced in deep pain as the man proceeded to start dabbing at his wounds in an effort to clean it up, but to his credit, he didn't move.

It was at this moment when the team of nurses finally made their appearance. A group of about three woman together arrived in a rush, the head Nurse looking slightly frazzled as she strode inside the room. "Sorry." She puffed, sounding oddly winded as she came to a stop at his side. "It was hard to find everyone for some reason." Eyeing the child and drawing a hand through her already-messy hair, she straightened considerably. "Alright then." She sighed heavily. "Details?" The prompt was short and clipped, the woman ready to take over and tackle the situation head-on.

"Well, he's _awake_." Dr. Chance started out, voice a little impatient at the thought of her suddenly becoming the one in charge. After all, she just got here.

"Responsive?" She asked, mildly surprised at the fact. But before Chance could even try and reply to her question, she leaned over, reaching out and gingerly touching one of the long line of stitches that bridged over the teen's forehead. The touch elicited a sharp gasp of pain and shock, and the woman immediately snapped her arm back to her side as her eyes rounded out with alarm. But she recovered quickly, offering the boy -who's eyes were still shut tight- an apologetic frown. "Sorry, Hun." She whispered swiftly as the other nurses started to flock out to their designated jobs.

One younger girl went over to the monitor, observing it with a worried look as she scribbled down notes on her clipboard. Another female went to observe the stitches with a keen eye. One, who was just starting out as an intern, watched silently from the sidelines, mouth set in a firm line as she observed the goings-on carefully.

Catching the girl's line of view, Chance was reminded that he was supposed to be demonstrating to her the proper way to deal with a patient. But now that the nurses had arrived, he didn't have much anything else to do. Instead, he wrote the new advancements being made in his folder, making a note of the changes that Daniel was showing. They were only a few hours into the treatment, if you counted the time spent. If Daniel remained strong like he was showing right now, it looked like he could jump this hurdle fairly quickly.

As one of the nurses snipped away at a stray string that hung loose from the stitching, a small spasm of pain ripped its way down Daniel's spine. Wincing at the expression of pain, Chance cleared his throat before speaking down to the boy. "You're doing good." He comforted easily, voice immediately softening unconsciously, the way it always did when children were in his care. The boy's forehead creased sharply at this, and if Chance let his imagination run, he could have thought that he was offended at the tone. "Scale of one to ten, kid." Chance said, trying to make his voice more casual. "How's the pain?"

A moment of pained silence. Then: "…Eleven."

Against himself, Chance cracked a smile. He pushed away his sheer amazement at the boy's capability to hold a conversation; he had thought that it would be ages before the feat was accomplished. He pushed away the concern that he held for the child, and instead allowed just a touch of amusement to shake him. It seemed like the exact response that a teenager would give him, and it did much to remind him of the sense of sarcasm that his daughter used to hold. "That's usually what they say." He laughed.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

Once her mother got over the fact that she was in the custody of the police, it went pretty well. Of course, the whole 'Sorry Mom, but I'm at the police station right now and probably won't get home until, like, seven' took a pretty long amount of time to get over. Ali stood glumly to the side of the hustle and bustle of the station, sullen frown on her face as she pressed the receiver tightly against her ear. "Mom, I just really need to be here." She sighed, glancing at the clock on the wall and realizing with a tired pang that she'd been on the phone way too long. "They need to ask me a couple of questions, and then I can leave. It's not like I'm in _trouble _or anything."

She paused, listening with a heated look of anger as her mother chattered away on the other end. When she found a break in the stream of 'Are you aware how late it is's, she cut her off. Closing her eyes tightly, the girl let her shoulders droop wearily, the sadness that was churning inside her stomach finally cracking through her voice. Her tone turned much sadder as she spoke now, the defeated sort of feeling showing more prominently as she was starting to run out of time. "Mom, listen, there's a kid at school who got hurt. Really bad."

At this, the other end went quiet. Muffled voices sounded in the background, and Ali could almost picture her mother leaning away from the phone, turning over and filling in her father on this new bit of news. "He got hurt and I think I can help the police find out who did it." Ali pressed tightly, giving a small sigh at this, her new responsibility weighing down hard on her shoulders. She leaned against the wall, hugging herself with her free arm as she stuck her tongue into her cheek for a moment. "I think I already know, anyway." She added, voice sharpening with sudden anger. "I'll be done soon."

Another pause.

"Yes, I'll call you when I'm done." Ali said softly, pushing off the wall as she realized that their conversation was dwindling to a close. She waited as her mother added a few more things, nodding slowly along with the words. Movement at the end of the hall caught her eye, and she twisted around to see that Detective Crane was standing at the end of the hall, checking up on her like he had been doing every five minutes. Now, she showed him her index finger, the man straightening at the prospect of her finally coming to a close. "Okay, Mom, I will. I promise." One last pause. "Okay…bye."

The teenager turned, hanging up with a rather loud slam. She reached up, dragging her wrist tiredly across her forehead as she made a face. She was starting to get hot in this costume. She spun back around, offering the Detective a small smile as he came to a stop beside her. "All finished?" He asked, eyes flickering over to the phone as he asked. Ali gave a guilty jolt as she once again thought of the way that she'd taken much too long with talking to her mother. But the man didn't seem to hold any kind of grudge against her, giving her a small nod as he turned down the hall. "If you'll follow me, we'll want to get you on tape."

"Tape?" She asked quizzically, having to jog for a heartbeat so that she could catch up to the man.

"Well, we'll want evidence of your story." He said assuredly, looking down at her from the corner of his eye as he turned down yet another hall. Puffing with the effort of keeping stride with him, Ali did her best to match his fast pace. "If we don't have hard witness evidence, and it just becomes word of mouth, it isn't as strong as it could be in the first place. This way, we'll have both you and the tape to account for."

But while the words seemed to comfort him, it didn't do too much for the blonde. She blinked, an unnerved look coming over her as she stopped suddenly. The man had turned sharply into a room to the left, a smallish kind of space with a table and two chairs on either side. Detective Crane took one of the chairs, and gestured to the other with a welcoming sort of look. But at the bleak look of the metal furniture and the oversize recorder in the center of the table, she gave an unsettled frown. "I thought you said I wouldn't be held accounted for." She said softly, standing in the doorway and looking a tad frightened at this.

Crane blinked, as if the thought never occurred to him. "Well, we won't give your name to the people in question, of course." He said, as if the statement should be clear in the first place. "But we'll need to show some sort of proof to the court and things of that nature. If it came to that, I mean." Ali stiffened at this, head reeling as she tried to imagine Johnny and his friends in jail. She shifted uneasily at the mental image, having to swallow back a lump in her throat as she tried to tear her mind off the picture. But Crane had caught the look, once again gesturing to the other chair as he narrowed his eyes a little bit. "But I think you already know it might come to that." He said lowly.

Ali bit her lower lip, giving a shaky sigh as she finally entered the room. Footsteps echoing oddly in the small space, the blonde lowered herself down carefully in her chair. Eyes flashing, she could see that the tape was already running, blank space eagerly waiting to swallow up her words and take them from her. She suddenly became tongue-tied, breathing hitching itself away from her as she couldn't tear her eyes away from the bulky device.

Catching onto her nervousness, the Detective cleared his throat pointedly before leaning forward, elbows resting on the metal surface as he looked at her carefully. "Now." He started off. "What can you tell me about whoever might have committed the attack in accordance to the Daniel LaRusso involvement?" The title caused the girl to stiffened with a small hint of anger. It made it sound like he was some kind of product instead of the boy that she'd talked to in the soccer field. It was degrading.

Taking in a slow breath, and pushing the thoughts away with a might shove, Ali shifted restlessly in her seat. "Well…" She glanced swiftly over at the recorder, biting her lower lip again.

"Just pretend it isn't there." Crane offered with a soft smile.

"'Kay." The girl mumbled, wilting briefly before starting over. "Like I said, he left the party early. I don't know exactly why, all I know was that he was running out of the bathroom with these group of guys after him." She threw out the term 'group of guys' out loosely, eyes flashing over to the police officer as she spoke the term. Somehow, she was still a little reluctant to give out names. She was acutely aware that she was the powerful one here; she held the fate of nearly everyone in her arms right now. She could give out their names and save Daniel, or she could keep quiet and risk doing the exact opposite for her friend. The man opened his mouth at the words, but she swept on before he could have a chance to interrupt her with questions.

"I tripped one of them on the way out, and that sort of slowed them down. But then they were out of the building, and I was left behind."

"No teacher or staff member tried to stop them?" He asked, in slight shock.

"No." Ali mumbled out the small reply. "They were going pretty fast." She paused a moment before adding on as an afterthought. "Daniel moved here a few months ago, so he's still kind of the new kid." She explained. "I met him on the beach with his friends and we instantly became really close. Over time we became good friends, but recently he started to steer clear of me." She let a frown grace her features at this. "I thought that he was avoiding me, and when he didn't come back from leaving the party, I just started getting more and more apparent. I thought he just didn't come back because he didn't want to be around me…guess that wasn't the case…" The weak attempt at a joke fell lamely, and her lower lip trembled at the words.

"You said he was new?" He prompted, the girl looking up at him with teary eyes. "But it's been a few months, right? His friends would have-"

"He doesn't have any." She said softly, before she could stop herself.

"What?" Crane asked, perplexed at this. "No friends? You said you met him when he was with his friends."

"Well…yeah, I guess I did." Ali answered, backtracking as she went to correct herself. "But that was the last time he was with friends, I think. On the beach he kind of," She broke off with a small cough, clearing her throat with a small wince. The action caused a look of interest to pique over the man's face. "…he kind of got beat up." She waited for the man to ask her a follow-up question, but apparently he thought she didn't need one. He merely stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to elaborate. So she took in another deep breath and did just that.

"Y'see, I have this…ex-boyfriend." She grimaced at the word, and she saw a grave sort of look enter the man's eyes as they flashed. "And when we were on the beach, he crashed our party and started yelling at me. He grabbed my radio and smashed it against the ground…Daniel was the only one to stick up for me. And my Ex isn't really…used to people standing up to him, so he kinda…" She drew an impatient hand through her hair, trying to get rid of her pauses. But it was just too hard to say it. It was too hard to admit she was to blame for all of this. "…started punching him." The words were punctured with a thick tone that usually came before one started to cry, so Ali broke off and swallowed back the thick feeling in her windpipe.

"How bad was it?" He asked stiffly, leaning forward more sharply by now.

"Pretty bad." Ali rasped, wringing her hands together tightly as she tried to focus on not blinking. "He tried to stick up for himself, but it was no use. Everyone on the beach watched as he got beaten, and then after that he was pretty much a nobody. People stayed away from him, people made fun of him, and he just became an outcast." She paused, giving a small sniff. "He was a target, too." At this, she couldn't help it. She forgot not to blink, and watched with an embarrassed scowl as the tears dripped down her cheeks like little waterfalls. She raised an arm, rubbing the drops away with the back of her arm as best she could. "He was a target, too." She confessed with a stifled sob.

"A target?" The man echoed firmly. "What do you mean?"

"He always had some kind of injury. He always told me that it was from falling off his bike or something, but I never believed him. Black eyes, scratched arms, just…anything." She cursed under her breath as the tears refused to stop. "I always told him to brush it off, I wasn't thinking. I wasn't thinking of _him_. I just liked him so much, I didn't want him to stop being with me. But by him being with me, it just made my Ex more and more mad. But I didn't know- I never thought- I've I would've known that something like this-"

"So this happened more than once." He said, making it more of a statement rather than a question.

Ali just nodded miserably, too upset to respond audibly.

Crane hit his fist against the table, like he had just struck gold or something. "That's even worse." He grumbled, as if taking down mental notes in his head. Ali peeked up through her blonde bangs, expression a large pool of anguish where she sat. "That's a severe form of harassment, could be taken down for several other things as well…depends on the age…once we're able to question him directly…" He blinked, looking caught off-guard as he realized that Ali was still there.

Jarred from his mental escapade, he straightened suddenly, a look of utmost important overcoming his features as he looked at her directly. "Now, here's the hard part." He said firmly, crossing his arms tightly as he raised his eyebrows at her. "You're going to have to give me the names of all the people that were involved. Even remotely."

Ali remained silent.

"You'll be doing your friend a huge favor." He added.

She closed her eyes tightly, gripping her knees.

"It'll only get worse if you don't tell us now. Don't be afraid, we'll make sure they don't suspect you." Still getting nothing, he cleared his throat. "I promise that we'll be able to keep both you and Daniel safe at the same time. It'll be _so_ easy. But to get to that stage in recovery, you'll have to dish out a few names."

At this, Ali gave a slow huff, wiping her eyes again. Her whole life she'd been coached not to tattle. The thought was a little silly in its right, but it forced its way into her mind at this moment. She was so panicked, that it almost calmed her. She'd gotten so many people cross at her when she tattled: childhood friends, and family members as well. It was a common fact that when you went off and told on someone, that someone would instantly be angry with you.

So what would a tattle to this proportion cause in its effect?

She closed her eyes tightly, squaring up her shoulders with a tense sort of attitude. Firmly not giving her another moment to hesitate, she opened her mouth, spitting the names out of her mouth as fast as she could. "Johnny Lawrence, Bobby Brown, Tommy, Dutch, and Jimmy. They all go to that same Dojo: Cobra Kai. You can get their phone numbers there." The words came out all in the same breath, and it left Ali breathless and shaking. She opened her eyes with a snap at this, wide orbs rounding out with shock at what she had just done.

Amazingly, despite the speed of her speaking, the man had written down every single word she'd said. They were scribbled down rather sloppily on the notepad that he kept in his pocket. Ali had caught sight of it on the way over here; in the heat of the moment, she must have forgotten about it. Now her words were engraved in both a notebook and a tape recorder. There was no way to take back what she had just said, she couldn't take back _any _of it.

"Thank you very much, Ali Mills." He said, sounding much more relieved than before. "If you want to call your mother, we can…"

But she wasn't listening. Ali stared with wide eyes down at the surface of the table, a shaky tremor coming into her hands as she breathed heavily. She was done. Her part was over. She had finished what she came to do.

And now she was left wondering whether or not she did something amazing…or had just made a huge mistake.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

A/N: It is 12:25 in the morning.

I should not be awake at 12:25 in the morning. And I'm pretty sure it shows. XDD

But Yup~! Yup Yup Yup! I finally got myself to sit down and update! If I get a lot of reviews for this chapter, I'll update MUCH quicker.

And like I said, some peepz don't got no last name. Dat shiz aint my fault.

…Can you tell I'm tired? XDDDD BECAUSE I CAN.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Dang. Sorry for not updating sooner! I've been busy with a bunch of stuff like Marching Band camp and starting school, all that really really fun crap. :3

But even if I don't update in a while, that doesn't mean I'll forget about this story. It's just that it doesn't get a lot of reviews as it could, so it usually falls to the bottom of my update list. But anyway, hope you'll enjoy this, and hopefully I'll get to update one more time before school starts, which is in four days. Because once school starts with marching band, my updates will seriously slow down XDD

I say that like my updates were fast to begin with, though

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

Monday came after the weekend like it always did. And while others might dread the week day just because school started yet again, Ali had a whole other reason to wish to stay home. She knew without a doubt now that as soon as she stepped through the doors, she would be met with curious stares and questions upon questions. It wasn't hard to imagine that after she left her friends to go to police station they had immediately started to talk about her to others. Rumors started quick in high school, and they always swept through the halls like wildfire. And while this wasn't the first time that people had talked about her, this was certainly the worst situation she'd ever been in.

The thoughts went through her mind fretfully as she went through her morning routine. Outside, the sun was just starting to rise up over the horizon, she would have to hurry if she wanted to catch the bus outside. She had just finished getting everything ready, scooping up her backpack from the ground and starting over to her bedroom door. Hopefully she could grab some breakfast before she had to leave for school. Prepping herself in her mirror one last time, she turned and closed the door behind her, going down the steps two at a time.

As expected, her parents were already up. Her mother sat at the kitchen table, already having made breakfast as she scanned over a novel in her hands. Her father was busying himself about, getting ready for work just like she was getting ready for school. She had hoped in the back of her mind that they would be too concerned with their own stuff to notice her coming in, but as soon as she stepped over the threshold of the kitchen door, all eyes went to her. Cursing herself mentally for not just leaving in the first place, Ali offered them a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Waltzing carefully around her father, who was veering for his briefcase on the counter. Noticing that her dad was more hectic than usual, Ali glanced over at him as she took a seat, resting her head on the palm of her hand tiredly. "Busy day?" She asked, her question coming out more as a statement. She knew how to read her parents ever since she was little, and they both seemed tenser than normal. Her father didn't answer her, and she was left staring at him awkwardly. Clearing her throat and looking back down at the table, she shifted uneasily. "Well…I guess I'd better-"

"I made you something, dear." Her mother said before she could finish. Looking up with surprise on her features, Ali twisted in her chair, looking back the way her mom pointed. Sure enough, there was a plate of toast and eggs waiting for her by the oven; she had been in such a hurried rush to get inside that she had missed it. Unnerved, she muttered a small thank-you, going over and fetching it back so that she could sit back down. "Thanks." She said in a small mummer, starting to eat with a glance at the clock. Her bus would be here in about ten minutes.

"So." Her mother said after a moment's pause. Off to the side, Ali's father stilled in his work, still moving, but with much less purpose than he had before. It was obvious that he was interested in their conversation; that, or he knew what it was about. Which was more than Ali could say, she supposed. Not knowing what her mother meant, she threw her a perplexed look, one eyebrow raised oddly as she waited for further explanation. Sure enough, her mother gave a short sigh. "You look upset." She pressed.

"Do I?" She mused with a small shrug. "I guess I just don't want to go to school."

"I told you you should have studied more for that test."

It took a minute for Ali to realize what she was talking about. "No." She said quickly, shaking her head. She'd nearly forgotten about the math test that was today; she guessed she couldn't skip today then, not that she was really planning on it in the first place. But now she had a genuine reason to stay, which would probably make her feel a lot better during the day. For once, she thanked her lucky stars for having math during the last hour of the day. "The math test will be fine. It's just the people there that I'm worried about."

"Well, we just wanted to let you know that you don't have to keep getting involved in whatever is going on around here." Her mother went on, looking over the rim of her novel and giving her a stern look. Ali stilled at this, dropping her fork and letting the eggs slap back onto the plate. She didn't reply at first, disbelief in her expression as she waited. Her mother sighed at her new change, shaking her head plaintively. "Really, honey. It's none of your business, and you're going to get in a lot of trouble if you keep…looking around like this."

"Looking around?" Ali repeated. "I'm not _looking around_! And of course it's my business! Daniel is my friend and I was the only one that could help him." She paused a moment, puffing out her cheeks for a moment as she considered her options. Deciding that she was in too deep already, she figured that nothing would change if she went on. "And besides," She added. "I've already gotten into it, there's no chance of me getting out, so…"

"One thing is for sure." It was her father this time. "We're not letting you pull another stunt like you did before. You're not going to the police station again, you can be sure of that. We don't need to get ourselves tangled up in this, it has nothing to do with us. And if you keep on with what you're doing, there will be consequences. Do you understand?" The question came like it always did when she got a scolding, and she always knew from the first day she heard it that there was already an answer out there for her. 'Do you understand' always required a yes. There was no way around agreeing, the fact was a known one.

But she was too at a loss to remember that. Instead, she shook her head, pushing away from the table and getting to her feet haltingly. Leaning over, she grabbed her backpack, straightening herself and slinging it over her shoulder loosely. "Whatever." She growled, turning on her heel and making for the door. "I guess I didn't realize how much you guys didn't care. Thanks for letting in a little light on the subject." She started to grab the doorknob, twisting it sharply to the right. But her father's voice stopped her in her tracks, more out of habit than anything.

"I'm serious, young lady." He said, voice harsher now as he seemed to know that she wasn't planning on listening to him. "Turn around." For a minute, Ali seriously considered walking out on him anyway, but then she figured that it would be rude. Reluctantly, she twisted around, keeping her hand locked on the doorknob though. Her father was standing a few yards away from her, hands crossed tightly over his chest. "If I hear you getting into any more trouble, there's going to be a serious problem between us, do you hear me?" No response. "It's not that we don't care about your friend, it's because we care about your well-being. Got it?"

Ali stuck her tongue as hard as she could into the inside of her cheek. She shifted from foot to foot, weighing her opinions and options mentally. If she thought about it, she already did give the police the best information she had. After all, what was better than the address and names of those who seemed the most likely to have been the culprits? The detective had said something about calling her out again, but she could just refuse that, right? It wasn't like they would drag her into court against her will. And she wouldn't want to go to court anyway.

And maybe it did sound good to be free of this. Or…fre_er. _The kids at school would know what she had done, not what she _wasn't _going to do. Nevertheless, she would know it. "I won't go looking for trouble." She promised finally, her free hand clenching at her side. Her voice was a little choked as she made the vow, but it seemed good enough for her parents.

"There you go." Her father said approvingly, her mother giving out a small smile as she went back into her book. Striding forward, her father leaned down swiftly, pursing his lips and planting a fond kiss on the crown of her head. Ali sighed mentally at the sign of affection, looking away as her hold on the door tightened. Her father noticed the change in her, but he didn't call it out. Instead, he just clapped a hand lightly on her shoulder, turning away once more as he started for his briefcase. "Do you need a ride to school?" He asked invitingly.

But Ali wasn't in the mood for kindness right now. Tartly, she replied in a clipped tone, pulling the door open. "No thanks. I'd rather just catch the bus. Saves gas money." Her father turned her way, obviously having noticed her dry tone of voice. Taking the movement as a sign that she'd better leave, Ali stepped outside into the crisp morning air, slamming the door behind her before he could bring anything else up.

Readjusting her backpack, she hopped down the brick steps, reaching the ground in a few heartbeats and starting off across her lawn. The bus stop was only a few minutes away from her house, there was no need to rush. She'd end up being there on the early side anyway, and there was certainly nothing in her that wanted to get to school right away. Maybe she'd get lucky and the bus would crash into a tree. That way at least she'd be a little late on arrival.

Reaching the stop earlier than she thought, the girl sank down to the ground, sitting against the road sign and plucking at the grass a little moodily. It came apart from the ground with no resistance, Ali starting to tie it into little knots with a bored expression. It was rather chilly for California weather, and she gave a small shiver. Craning her neck back, she looked the way she had come, her house a little dot amongst the others just like it. Her parents hadn't seemed to have left yet, and she wished that the bus would come before they did. She'd take a bunch of high-schoolers over her family right about now.

She took a short breath, sitting upright again as she tore her gaze away. Looking up, she started to speak to nobody in particular; who was up at six in the morning to hear her anyway? But she felt guilty, and she hoped that her vocal assurances would help to quell the niggling feeling. "I didn't lie to them." She clarified to herself, dimly wondering if the book that she borrowed from the library was still in her backpack. "I'm not going to go looking for trouble. But if it comes looking for _me_, I'm not going to just let it pass."

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

The bus ride was actually better than she thought it would end up being. But that was probably because half the kids that were riding with her were still half-asleep. She took to sitting in the back as an extra precaution though, keeping to herself and trying to appear as if she wasn't even there. When her friends sat up near the front, she didn't get up to call out to them, and when the school started to loom over in the distance, she didn't get up either. She was the first one on the bus, and she made sure that she was the last one off.

Taking her time in getting inside, she traipsed past people she knew, weaving and swerving in awkward ways through the crowd in her efforts. She made a special point to halt near the entrance, looking over towards the place where Johnny and his friends usually parked their bikes. The space was empty, and yet it did nothing to help cease the fluttering nervousness in her stomach. Did the lack of bikes mean that they just parked somewhere else, or that they weren't here at all? And if they weren't here, did that mean they were late or that the police got to them?

Trying to shake clear of the restless worrying, she went inside, immediately veering a sharp right towards where her locker was. Her shoes clacked loudly on the ground, mixing in with the other noises of school life and helping to add to the roar of noise around her. As she went down the hall, she tried to listen to every single person she could, trying to see whether it was worth all this hiding. If people weren't talking about her like she guessed in the first place, she didn't have to worry about ducking and weaving.

She passed millions of different conversations. A pair of girls talking about a secret admirer, a group of jocks talking about the latest game, a couple of band members crowing about their recent winning at their last competition, and even one or two break-ups. None of them were talking about anything that was really all that interesting, and it certainly had nothing to do with her. As she got closer to her locker, she thought that she felt a few eyes trained on her. But she brushed away the worry, scolding herself at the paranoia.

Entering her combination and opening her locker with a sharp creak, Ali shrugged off her bag, hanging it up inside neatly as she tried to remember what she needed for her first few hours. Giving a light sigh, she started to unpack things such as her lunch, making sure that it had space at the bottom. The task was one that she did every morning, but she tried her best to focus on each movement as much as she could. She wasn't in the mood to think about what was coming up in school, and she certainly wasn't trying to listen in on any more conversations between her peers.

But even as she started to gather up her binders and notebooks, she couldn't help but wonder what might be going down at the police station right about now. She wondered whether or not Johnny and his gang were down there yet, and if they were what they were doing. Detective Crane had promised her that he wouldn't name her name, and yet she had a feeling that there was a little danger coming on the way. Like the feeling you get when you're reading a book and you know that the author was planning something terrible for the ending. She didn't know what could go wrong, and there wasn't really any hint at what it could be. But still, she wasn't able to shove aside her wonderings.

For a minute, she was starting to hope that she could get to her first class without being disturbed. But she should have known that it was a fruitless hope. As soon as she was about to close her locker door, there was a knock on the metal on the other side, causing her to jump with fright at the sudden rap. Turning around and grabbed the edge, she braced herself for a moment before slamming closed, having already gotten what she needed to out of it. But as soon as she closed the door, she wished it back open again. She would have rather had anything else in front of her than this.

Johnny gave her a crooked smile, the same lazy aura surrounding him as he leaned against the other lockers. "Hey there." He said casually, only pushing her anger more as he lounged about like nothing really mattered. At once, angry blush rose up to color her cheeks bright red, her eyes narrowing at once into a sharp glare. Looking rather put-out by this new glower, Johnny gave her a mocking pout. "Aw, you don't have to be like that." He laughed. "After all, don't we have history between us? Don't you feel a _little _bad that you're ways so mean to me?"

She scoffed furiously, rolling her eyes as she tried to get around him. "Hardly." She growled. But as soon as she tried to maneuver around him, Johnny stepped in her way, blocking her and keeping her against her locker. She held her binders tight to her chest, her knuckles bleaching themselves white with the force of her embrace. "Get out of the way." She snarled. "You're gonna make me late to class, Johnny. I can't afford another tardy."

"I won't take that long." He assured her, raising his eyebrows her direction. Ali sighed angrily, sitting back into her hips as she glared at him expectantly. When he got her supposed attention, Johnny' stupid smile only got bigger. "I actually just came by to tell you a funny story." His eyes flashed at this, and Ali's limbs immediately locked together with panic. What he talking about, a funny story? He didn't seem all that angry, but he didn't see too happy either. And with that weird look that just came over his face, she wasn't too sure that she wanted to know what he was talking about.

When he didn't make a move to get on with it, Ali gave him another sharp stare. "Well?" She said furiously. "Are you going to talk, or are you just going to stand there like an idiot? Not that you're not an idiot when you're doing anything else." The last comment came out as a retort, the blonde stamping the ground with her foot impatiently.

"The funny story is that last night I got a call from the police." Johnny stated, watching as Ali went still now at this new development. The blonde quieted at once, face clearing of emotion as she stared at him blankly. _Don't show him that you know anything. Don't show him that you know anything. _She told herself firmly, not leaving herself any room to try and convince herself otherwise. "They told me that I'm supposed to go down there sometime so that they could 'ask me a few questions.'" He went on after a pregnant pause. "Couldn't think of anything that they'd want me for, though. Do you?"

Ali didn't say anything, she couldn't. But then she finally managed. "And you're skipping it?" She asked, a scoff hidden in her voice. "Not like that surprises me."

"I'm not skipping it, you don't think that I'd be that irresponsible, do ya?" She didn't reply, blank expression resting firmly on him as she remained silent. Johnny shrugged, "I'm supposed to go down there after school today, actually. In fact, after I called all the guys, I realized that it was the same for all of them. Except they're taking us in one by one. Everyone's gone but me; Bobby is supposed to go down there during school today. But I can't help but wonder: why all of us? Why now?"

She looked him up and down. "…Don't the others know?" She asked finally, voice a squeak.

"Haven't been able to reach 'em." He answered. "Otherwise I would know what all this is about. But you haven't answered my question, sweetheart." Normally the title would cause Ali to bristle, but now it was all she could do to remain standing. The name just went right over her head, the girl not bothering to linger on it. And when she still remained quiet, he pressed even farther: "Do _you_ have any idea what it could be about?" His voice was high and light, it was obvious that he knew for a fact she had an idea. He was just playing with her.

"…No." She said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "No idea."

"Are you sure?" Johnny asked, looking at her closely. "I think you might."

"Listen, I have to get to class and it's all the way upstairs." She said haltingly, turning her eyes back to the ground. "If all you're going to do is try to get me to own up to something that I didn't do, then I'm just going to leave. Now, if you wouldn't mind-" She shrugged past the boy, heading back into the halls and wishing that she could disappear among the student body. If she could just vanish into thin air, she could get away from Johnny a lot quicker than she would on her own. The confrontation was starting to get to her, and a warm rush of fright was filling her to the brim, causing her to be shaky and lost.

Bt once again, Johnny stopped her. He rushed forward, planting himself in front of her for the second time. By now, they were starting to gain an audience now, the roar of noise around them seeming to falter somewhat. She winced visibly, cursing every single thing around them that she could see. If kids weren't talking already, now they certainly would. This was the second time this week that her and Johnny had gotten into a fight in front of people. She just prayed to the heavens that nobody heard what they were talking about. If they did, the rumors would shoot through the halls faster than the speed of sound.

"I know what you're doing." Johnny growled, his loose façade dropping somewhat as he glared at her. Ali bit her lower lip, managing to give him a defiant stare as she held her books closer to her stomach. He wouldn't hurt her, he _couldn't. _Not only would it cause a huge scene in front of all their peers, but it would only be digging his own grave even farther than it already was. He'd be too smart to try anything…right? "And if not you, I know who."

"What am I doing, Johnny?" She challenged, trying to change the subject from the 'other person' that could be involved in this. She had a nasty suspicion on who he was referencing, and if her assumption was true, she needed to divert attention. Glancing around at the kids who were openly staring, she cleared her throat nervously. "Because I certainly don't know what you're talking about. If you're in trouble, it's because you're just an idiot who deserves everything that he's going to get. If you came to get pity from me, you can keep walking, because it's the last thing you're going to get."

"Don't play dumb." Johnny snapped.

"I'd tell you the same thing, but it's just a bad habit for you." She flashed back. "And old habits die hard."

"That's cute." He snapped. "But the situation isn't. Stop sticking your nose into places it doesn't belong."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said, feigning guilt. "Maybe next time this rolls around, I'll let you get away with murder."

"Please." He laughed, looking away with a shake of his head. "Don't be so dramatic."

"How about you stop being such an ass?" She yelled.

Johnny grinned lopsidedly, leaning forward a little as he smirked. "Someone's getting angry, I see." He commented snidely.

It happened in a split second. Ali threw down her binders and books, all of the textbooks snapping attention their way. And while she was aware of all looks on her now, she didn't care. Her arm snapped backwards at once, forming a perfect right angle for only half of a second before she threw it forward. Her hand balled into a tight fist, her knuckle colliding with Johnny's left eye with a bone-shattering blow. Pain lanced up her wrist at once, and she was aware of an agonizing pain waving through her fingers. She let out a small sob as she snatched her hand back. But it was nothing compared to what Johnny's reaction was.

The blonde hunched forward, the blow having taken him by surprise. Her reached up with his hands, pressing them tight against the new injury. Ali hid her injured hand, tucking behind her back as she glared sharply down at the boy. "Can you see now?" She yelled, knowing for a fact that she had hit her target dead-on. A sense of triumph rose inside of her as she watched Johnny stagger backwards, but it was unfortunately short-lived.

At once, someone stepped in between them, Ali recognizing the principal at once with a sinking heart. The man glared down at her sternly, almost exactly the way that her father had stared at her earlier this morning. The thought of her father only caused the blonde's stomach to fall more, he was certainly going to have a fit when he heard what she'd done. But then again, she had kept her promise. She had purposefully steered clear of social interaction for this very reason. She had steered clear of trouble, and yet trouble had found her anyway. She just took care of the problem.

"I'll have none of this!" The principal yelled sternly, looking from both her to Johnny, who had recovered now as he straightened. There was a welt slowly rising around his eye, and she felt yet another thrill of pleasure at the thought of a bruise forming later. Looking at the students crowded around them, the principal only swelled up more. "Off to class with you all!" He ordered at once, watching as the kids jumped guiltily, turning around and breaking off as quick as they could. Ali watched the go, literally feeling the weight of their stories they had acquired as they ran off.

There goes her rumor-free day.

The principal turned over to Johnny, surveying him for a moment and eyeing the slowly-darkening bruise around his eye. "You." He said, turning and pointing down the hall to where it branched away. "You go to the Nurse's office. When you're done there, you are to come down to my office." Johnny stood still for a few moments, looking from the principal to Ali, as if debating whether or not he should listen. But eventually his commonsense seemed to win over, the boy realizing that if he disobeyed, things would only get worse. Throwing a sour look in the blonde's direction, he turned and went down the hall, rubbing his eye with a pained grimace as he went along.

"And you." The principal said, turning around and looking at her closely. "Pick up your books. Then we're going to my office."

Ducking her head with embarrassment and feeling a shade guilty now that Johnny wasn't here to triumph over, Ali crouched down, scooping up her things messily and regaining her hold onto them. The man glared at her sharply, watching her every movement. And as soon as she got back to her feet, he had turned, marching down to the way that must have been the main office. She had never been down to the principal's office before, a thought that used to pride herself on. After all, she had never had a reason before to be in trouble with him.

She guessed that she wouldn't be able to think like that anymore.

Nevertheless, she held her head high as she went after the man. She hadn't done anything wrong. She stood her ground and didn't let Johnny find out anything more than he already knew; what was the harm in that? Could the school really punish her for sticking up for herself? Not having the experience of the discipline system in this place, she couldn't answer the question. She just hoped that they would listen to her side of the story, much as she wanted to hold it back. Because she certainly did not a detention, that was the last thing she needed for her year.

But what could she say? The same thing that she told Detective Crane?

She sighed heavily, shoulders drooping at the prospect.

Looks like no matter how hard she would try, she wasn't able to stay out of this.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

A/N: Sorry if it's short. This is my second update today, actually. I need to get off the computer XDD

Hopefully it's okay, and it makes up for the lack of updates I've had recently. If there are any typos, blame it on my computer. It's lagging and being really frustrating. And if I go back to fix any mistakes ((which I learned the hard way)) it freezes for a good five minutes before going where I need it to. I really need a better computer, suffice to say.

Anyway! I'm on fire today with updates! Second one in a day! Maybe I should push it and make a third for another fanfiction. XDD ((totally not going to do that I'm so freaking tired))

See ya soon, if reviews come through! ;)


End file.
